THK 

JIIJ^TOUY — -^ 



or 



PE\> SY I.V AM A 



ROM ITS niscdviiiv in iiroi'Kans 



TO TMB 



Bcclaration of XntjrprnUrncc 



IK 1776. 



■. . V •,•••» : ■• 



BY THOMAS F. GORDON 



PHIJLiDELPHIA: 

CAREY, LEA 4: CABET 

JlBPtR HARDlJtO, PRlKTia 
1829 



Eastern District of Pcnnni^lvania, to -wit : 

• ••*••••«• BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the fourteenth day of 

• SEAL • J^""^ry, in the fifty-third year of the Independence of the 
; • : United States of America, A. D. 1829, 

, . ' •»t»»r«»f<»f , 

',: ,: ,,; ; ; ■ • • Thomas F. Gordoit, 

,' ; , of the 3ai(;J: distri.ct, h^s^ ^^pcj-sitvid in this office the title of a book, the right 
whereof he claims as author, in the words following, to wit: 

'!'• .; ;";r'^^,Hi^<^9^y. 'if 'Pennsylvania, from its discovery by Europeans to the 
•' !■ . ! |f>fecl?^%'ii'?n; c,f T'.viqpend^^qa Ja 1776. By Thomas F. Gordon." 

In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, intituled, 
"An act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of maps,' 
charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the 
times therein mentioned." And also to the act, entitled, " An act supple- 
mentary to an act, entitled, « An act for the encouragement of learning, by 
securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprie- 
tors of such copies during the times therein mentioned," and extending the 
benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical 
and other prmts." 

D. CALDWELL, 

Clerk of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 



PREFACE. 



In the following pages, an attempt has been made to present 
a full and accurate history of the colony of Pennsylvania, 
from its discovery by Europeans to the declaration of indc- 
pendence. 

The subject is wanting, perhaps, in that vivid interest 
which arises from frequent vicissiludcs-thc result of violent 
concussions in physical and moral nature. Pennsylvania was 
founded by deeds of peace, and, during many years, was 
directed by a philanthropic spirit, and sound principles of 
common scnse,which extinguished orcontrolled those passions 

which create the subjects of ordinary historical interest. Her 
annals, during that period, contain little else than the suc- 
cessful efforts of a peaceful people to improve their private 
fortunes and their political happiness. Their progress in the 
latter only is matter for history. But, as their efibrts were 
confined to the narrow theatre of an obscure province, and 
consisted of long and abstruse discussions, they have slight 
attractions for ordinary readers, and impose on the historian 
scarce anv other duty than that of accurate and perspicuous 
narration.' In the performance of that duty a due mesne has 
been sought; avoiding, on the one hand, an extreme of gene- 
ralization, productive of vagueness and dissatisfaction, and 
on the other, that minuteness of detail which wearies and dis- 
gusts. Still it may be objected, that the extracts from the 
legislaUve journals are occasionally too full. But their pro- 
priety will, perhaps, be admitted, when it is considered that 
the principal arena of public action was the legislative hall, 
and that in such details alone are to be found the sources of 
the public measures of the province, and the character of her 
most distinguished citizens. 



IV PREFACE. 



Subsequent to the year 1753, the policy of Pennsylvania 
assumed a colour analogous to that of other states. Involved 
in a war resulting from French encroachments, she was com- 
pelled not only to contribute to the general means of offence, 
but to provide against the inroads of her border savages, who, 
though long fostered by her kindness, became severe scourges 
to their benefactors. A detail of their barbarities would have 
filled many pages of the work; but their sameness would 
have wearied, and their cruelty have disgusted the reader. 
Still they could not be entirely passed over, and place has 
therefore been given, to an account of many instances of their 
brutal ferocity, in the appendix. 

From 1753, the knowledge of the history of the British 
empire in America, becomes necessary to a proper under- 
standing of that of each colony. But whilst an outline of the 
former has been given, an effort has been made, perhaps not 
always successful, to resist the temptation to introduce more 
of it than was requisite. 

Full justice has never been done to the magnanimity and 
ability of the Pennsylvania statesmen and warriors during 
the revolutionary contest. The quiet and unpretending cha- 
racter of her population, has caused the historian, in a mea- 
sure, to overlook their merit in the council and in the field. 
So far as the scope of this volume permitted, an attempt has 
been made to remedy this injustice, by detailing at length 
the proceedings of the colony in relation to the tyrannical 
taxes imposed by Great Britain, and her preliminary steps to 
independence. And a chief object of the author's labours, 
should they be continued, will be, to exhibit in full and just 
relief, the great and efficient part which the people of Penn- 
sylvania had in every stage of the revolution. 

Some view of the events leading to the revolution was un- 
avoidable. It would have been no unpleasant task to trace 
these from their source through all their ramifications; to 
have exhibited at large the views of Great Britain in relation 



PREFACE. 



to colonization; her system of colonial restrictions, and her 
principles of colonial taxation, and to have given in detail the 
reasons, and the course of colonial resistance. But the extent 
allotted to this volume would not permit this indulgence, and 
these subjects therefore have been concisely treated. 

Biographical notices of early settlers in the province will 
probably be sought in this volume by their descendants, and 
some disappointment may be occasioned by their omission. 
It would have been a source of pleasure to me, had I been 
enabled to add considerably to the collections of this kmd 
made by Proud and Smith; but I had very little that was 
new to offer: and what can there be interesting to the public 
in the lives of men, whose chief, and perhaps sole merit, con- 
sisted in the due fulfilment of the duties of private life. The 
names of the first settlers are interesting to us only because 
they were the first settlers. We have no affecting tale to 
relate of them; no perils by flood or field; no privations in- 
duced by the crimes of others, or their own imprudence. The 
most that could be said of them is, that they were moral, re- 
ligious, prudent, quiet people, who, with admirable foresight, 
made the best advantage of their situation, and who lived in 
comfort, begat children, and died. All this has been said by 
Mr. Proud, and I have not deemed it necessary to repeat it. 
Due attention, however, has been paid to those persons who 
have distinguished themselves in Pennsylvania History, and 
such information as I have been able to obtain in relation 
to public men, has been given in the text, or in the appendix 
to the work. The names of the members of assembly, of the 
council, and of the incumbents of the other offices of the 
province, have been given from time to time; and as changes 
in office were not very frequent, it is not probable that the 
names of many are omitted, who were distinguished by their 
cotemporaries. 

To the Society of Friends, by whom the government of 
Pennsylvania was chiefly administered during the period of 
seventy years, and by whom the foundations of its prospe- 



^^ PKJSFAOE. 



rity were laid, I have endeavoured to do full justice. Their 
firm attachment to liberal political principles; their courage in 
resisting, by invincible moral force, every encroachment on 
the rights of conscience; their justice and kindness to the 
aborigine*; their unostentatious, but efficient charities, have 
all been noticed. If some inconsistences between their prin- 
ciples and their practice are discovered, they prove only that 
our best resolutions are not always proof against the storms 
of passion or the wiles of expediency. 

In the compilation of the work, I have industriously con- 
suited many authorities, and have examined carefully the 
minutes of the assembly and council, and many files of origi- 
nal papers deposited in the office of the secretary of the com- 
monwealth at Harrisburg. Among which, a copy of the 
records at New York, relative to the country on the Dela- 
ware, from the year 1G64 to the year 1681, was not the least 
important, since it has enabled me to give an authentic histo- 
ry of that period. I have also had access to some private 
correspondence, and manuscript collections, which have shed 
light upon many subjects, and to which I have given due 
credit. From the labours of the Historical Society of Penn- 
sylvania, I have received considerable aid; and it is highly 
probable that their exertions, if zealously continued, will 
rescue from oblivion all that is valuable in private collections. 

The two first chapters of the work may be considered pre- 
fatory. The one treats concisely of the history of the shores 
of the Delaware until the grant to William Penn; and the 
other gives such a view of the Indian tribes then resident 
thereon, as the researches of men best acquainted with them 
could furnish. Both seemed indispensable to the proper un- 
derstanding of the subsequent pages. 

It would have been easy to extend the work to two 
volumes. The greatest difficulty I have had, was its com- 
pression to the present size. In order to which, I have re- 
jected such matters as seemed of minor importance. In my 



PREFACE. VU 



choice I may not have employed the best judgment; and may 
be obnoxious to the reproach of having omitted that w^hich I 
should have retained. My defence is, that I have exercised 
an honest if not a sound discretion; and that should the pub- 
lic approbation encourage me to continue my labours, I will 
supply, in a subsequent volume, all that I may have impro- 
perly omitted in this. 

In the language of Doctor Robinson, '' I deliver this book 
to the world with all the diffidence and anxiety natural to an 
author on publishing his first performance. The time I have 
employed, and the pains I have taken, in order to render it 
worthy of the public approbation, it is, perhaps, prudent to 
conceal, until it be known whether that approbation shall ever 
be bestowed upon it." 



CONTENTS, 



CHAPTEK I. 

Obscurity of the ancient history of America. Abundant sources of its 
modern history. Common origin of New York, Pennsylvania, New 
Jersey, and Delaware. Discoveries in North America by the Spaniards 
and Portuguese. Of the French, by Verrazano. Of the English, by 
Cabot, Gilbert, Raleigli, Gosnold. North and South Virginia companies 
formed. Voyages of Hudson. Discovery of the Delaware bay and Hud- 
son river. Exploration of New York bay and Hudson river. Intercourse 
with the natives. Commerce of the Dutch East India company with 
America. Protection extended by the States General to maritime adven- 
turers. Licensed trading company of Amsterdam. Dutch settlements 
at New York. Plymouth adventurers. Dutch West India company. 
Their operations in North America. Settlements on Delaware bay and 
"river. Colony planted by DeVries. Destroyed by the Indians, Second 
voyage of De Vries. Swedish West India or South company. Swedish 
colony under Minuits. Under Printz. Englisli driven from tlie Dela- 
ware by Dutch and Swedes. Swedish settlements. Governor Risingh. 
War between the Dutc]\ and Swedes. Dutch power established. Dis- 
pute with Maryland. Englisli settlements under patent of Sir Edward 
Ploeyden. New England traders and settlei's. Conquest of New Nether- 
lands by the English. Reduction of the Dutch possessions on tlie Dela- 
ware. Government there. Rebellion of the Long Finne. Indian troubles. 
Incorporation of the town of Newcastle. Dispute with Maryland. New 
Netherlands recaptured by the Dutch. Western shore of the Delaware 
divided into three jurisdictions. Indian troubles. Purchases. Laws. 
Settlements in New Jersey. Government. William Penn becomes in- 
terested in New Jersey. Constitution. 1 

CHAPTER II. 

Of the aborigines. Their origin and progress from the west. War with, 
and conquest of the Alligewi. Division of the country between the 
Lenape and Mengwe nations. Settlement of the Lenape upon the sea- 
coast. Enmity between the Lenape and the Mengwe. Union of the 
Mengwe or five nations. Their machinations. Lenape become women. 
Domination of the Mengwe. Indian population, their extensive connex- 
ions, their language. Government and laws. Habits and customs. Re- 
ligion. Revenge. Hospitality and honesty. . ... 43 

CHAPTER III. 

Claims of the Duke of York. William Penn. His views in purchasing 
trans-Atlantic territory. Purchase from the crown. Boundaries. Char- 
ter. Observations on the charter. Declaration of the king. Measures 
of Penn to people his province. First adventurers. Conduct of the 
proprietary towards the Indians. Frame of government. Territories on 
the Delaware. Purchase from the Duke of York. - - - 53 

CHAPTER IV. 

Arrival of the proprietary. Takes possession of the territories: Convokes 
an assembly. Laws. Union of the province and territories. Act of 



11 CONTENTS. 

V nalurallzation. The great law. Itemarks. Perm's dispute with lord 
Baltimore concerning boundaries. Treaty with the Indians. The city 
of Philadelphia surveyed. Allotments to parchasers. Division of the 
country into counties. Judiciary. Return of the proprietary to Europe, 
and settlement of the g-overnment preparatory thereto. - - 65 

CHAPTER V. 

Death of Charles the second. Accession of James. Conduct of Penn. 
Impeachment of chief justice Moore. Proceedings against captain Ro- 
binson. Misconduct in the province. Attempts to convert the Indians. 
Penn solicited to return to the province. Relations between the pro- 
prietary and his people. New executive commission. Extraordinary 
instruction. Alarm of Indian hostility. John Blackwell appointed de- 
puty-governor. Mis administration. David Lloyd. Revolution in Eng- 
land. Its efFect on Penn. New arrangement of the executive power of 
the council, jealousy of the territories, and dissolution of the union. Dis- 
pleasure of the proprietary. Defence of the province. Dispute with 
Keitli. William and Alary assume the province, and appoint Fletcher 
governor. 85 

CHAPTER VI. 

Fletcher re-unites the province and territories. Demands money from the 
province to aid in securing the frontiers of New York against the Indians 
and French. The war between England and P'rance extends to America. 
Proceedings of the assembly. Markham appointed deputy-governor under 
Fletcher. Assembly asserts its right to sit upon its own adjournments, 
and to originate bills. Fletcher demands further pecuniary aid. The 
province restored to Penn. Death and character of Tliomas Lloyd. Ad- 

-.,, ministration of governor Markham under Penn. New constitution. State 
of the province. Buccaneers in the Delaware. The province accused 
of giving them protection. 103 

CHAPTER VH. 
Penn returns to the province. Yellow fever. Convenes the assembly. 
Disputes with the territories. Slaves and negroes. Intercourse with the 
Indians. The king requires the province to grant funds for the fortifi- 
cations at New York. Attempt to change the proprietary to royal 
governments. Disputes with assembly relating to tlie concessions. In- 
corporation of Philadelphia. New constitution. Appointment of council. 
Andrew Hamilton deputy-governor. Departure of the proprietary for 
Europe. Administration of Hamilton. By his death the government 
devolves on the council. The royal assent made necessary to the ap- 
pointment of the deputy-governors. 11 



T 



CHAPTER VHL 

Appointment of governor Evans. He attempts to re-unite the province 
and territories. Addresses of the assembly to the queen. Oaths required 
by order of council. Bill for confirming the charter. Disputes between 
the governor and assembly. The assembly address the proprietary, and 
treat him with great indecorum. The province divided into two parties 
s/-ainder Logan and Lloyd. Governor applies in vain to the as.sembly, 

^ for a copy of the address to proprietary. Receives tlie proprietary's 
opinion of the provincial disputes. Assembly alarmed for their popu- 
larity. The proprietary party is inspirited. Biles, a member of the 
assembly, is prosecuted by tiie governor. The house interfere. The 
governor angrily prorogues the assembly. The assembly are intimi- 



CONTENTS. 



Ill 



dated and divided. The proprietary party triumph in the election of a 
new assembly. Labours of the assembly. Evans attempts to establish 
a militia. Devises a stratagem to test the principles of the Quakers. 
Conduct of Logan. Fort at Newcastle, and duty imposed for its sup- 
port. Becomes grievous to the province. Enterprise of Richard Hdl 
and others. The"" governor endeavours to prevail on the house to pass a 
militia bill. Judiciary. A new assembly favourable to the popular party. 
Debates on the judiciary bill. The governor threatens to establish courts 
by his ordinance. Remonstrance of assembly. Conferenct. Governor 
takes offence at the manner of Lloyd. The assembly take part with their 
speaker. Lloyd's apology to the house. The assembly impeach Logan. 
Governor declines to try the impeachment. The assembly remonstrate 
V— with the proprietary on the conduct of Evans, Logan, and the grievances 
of the province. Continuance of the disputes. Provincial trade in- 
terrupted by privateers. Efforts of Evans to induce the assembly to 
defend the province. Unwise proceedings of the assembly. Recall of 



Evans. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Arrival of governor Gookin. Complaints of the assembly. Cull upon the 
house for military supplies. Fenn's instructions to the governor. Logan 
attacks Lloyd. Proceedings of the assembly. Logan arrested. Gover- 
nor dissolves the assembly. Produces a change of counsels. Attack 
and capture of Fort Hoval. Enterprise upon Canada. Assembly grant 
two thousand pounds. 'Acts for securing the government, and prohibit- 
ing the importation of slaves. Proprietary sells his government to the 
crown. Address of the governor to the assembly. First edition of the 
laws. Laws repealed by the privy council. Governor publishes an or- 
dinance re-establishing the courts. Dealli of queen Anne. Accession 
of George L Address of the assembly. Conduct of govermn- Gookin. 
Stat. 1. Geo. I. relating to oaths. Governor quarrels with Logan and Noma. 
His recall. Death and character of William Penn. His will. - 156 

CHAPTER X. 

Popular principles of Sir William Keith. Favourable disposition of the 
assembly. Fiscal concerns. Inspection laws. Court of Equity. Mi- 
v/ htia. Change in the assembly. Increase of foreigners. Indian disputes. 
An Indian murdered. Servants. Want of a circulating medium. Re- 
medies proposed. Paper currency. Committee of Grievance. Gratitude 
of the assembly to Keith. Fugitives fiom justice. Further emission of 
paper. Counterfeit bills. Impediments by the crown to the passage of 
private acts of assembly. Indian complaints. Proprietaries disapprove 
Keith's conduct. Logan divides the council against him. Pretensions 
of the minority. Logan removed from council. Hannah Penn repre- 
hends Keith. ' Letters from Gouldney and Gee. Keith's reply. Com- 
municates his instructions and correspondence to the assembly. Is i-e- 
moved. lii> character. -------- i'^ 

CHAPTER XI. 

Governor Gor<lon's address to, and reception by, the assembly. Keith's 
intrigues. Shad fisheries. Death of George 1. Murder by the Indians. 
'■f~. Indian expenses. Foreign emigiants. County of Lancaster formed. 
Piipcr currency. Fraud in the loan-office. Sugar trade. Provincial 
agency. Aitack on the freedom of the colonics in parhamcnt. Assem- 
bly claim llie right of appointment to office. Visit of the proprietaries. 



IV CONTENTS. 

Abolition of the court of equity. Death of governor Gordon. His cha- 
racter. His administration. I.ogan president of council. - 204 

ciiAi'TEu xn. 

George Thomas governor. Disputes on the ^laryland boinulary. Andrew 
Hamilton's address to tlie assembly. His death and cliaracter. Land 
office. Irregular settlements. >Var with Spain. Governor Thomas' 
military eflbrts. Disputes with the assembly. Forces required from the 
province. Embarrassment of the assembly. Number of troops furnished. 
Knli.-itment of servants. The merchants urge the assembly to contribute 
to the war. Money granted. Declined !)V the governor, who sends 
tro()j)s to tlie West Indies. George Whitfield. Governor recommends 
armed vessels. Limiialion of exports. Departure of Tiiomas Venn. 
Election. Governor reproves .John Kinsey, speaker of the assembly. 
Benevolence to the king. Passengers. Lazaretto. Violent disputes 
between the governor and assembly. .lohn Wright. Election proceed- 
ings. Hiot. Kcconcillation. War with France. Military association 
formed by Franklin. Inilian skirmish. Murder of Armstrong. Treaty 
at Lancaster. Enterprise on Louisburg. Siiawanese Indians^ Freiich 
intrigues. Measures of governor Thomas. Proposed attempt on Canada. 
Death of John I'enn. Governor 'Ihomas returns to Europe. His charac- 
ter and administration 222 

CHAPTER XIH. 

presidency of Anthony Palmer. Insidts from the enemy in the Delaware 
bay. Indian transactions. Alilitary efl'orts. Peace. Disputes bclwecn 
the council and assembly. Governor Hamilton. Indians. Kemoval of 
settlers from unpurchased lands. French encroachments. Indian ex- 
penses. Dis|iute with the proprietaries. Death of John Kinsey. Ben- 
jamin Franklin member of assembly. Pennsylvania hospital. French 
proceedings on the Ohio. Assembly refer tlieir consideration to the 
governor of New York. Paper currency. Imports and exports of Penn- 
sylvania. Disputes between the governor and assembly on the money 
bills. AVashington's journey to Venango. Instructions of the British 
ministry to the colonies. Conference with the Six nations at Albany. 
Lands purchased. Confcderac}' of the colonies proposed. Its fate. 
Subterfuge of the assembly to a\-oid military appropriations. Advance 
and defeat of colonel Washington. French remarks on his attack of Ju- 
monville. The governor attempts in vain to obtain funds from the as- 
sembly. Resigns. Character of his administration. Laws enacted. 255 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Robert Hunter Morris governor. Instructions from the ministry. Pro- 
ceedings of the Frencli and Indians. Proceedings of assembly. Indians. 
Arrival of general l?r:iddock. Claims the assistance of the province. 
Frivolous dispute excited by the governor. Application for assistance 
from Massachusetts. Conduct of assembly thereon. Non-intercourse 
law. Convention of governors at Annapolis in Maryland. Pl:;n of the 
campaign. Expedition against Nova Scotia. Cruelty towards the neu- 
trals, tiern-.an redemplioners. Uiaddock's expedition. Proceeding of 
the assembly. Propose to tax the proprietary estates. Visit from the 
Indians. New disputes between the governor and assembly. Devasta- 
tions on the frontiers. Geiieral defection of the Indians. Causes of this 
defection. Supply bill. Petitions of the people. Donation by the pro- 
prietors. Measures of defence. Pi n of the campaign for ITjo. En- 
listment of servants. Dispute on the renewal of the excise. Proprietary 



CONTENTS. 



Treaty at Easton with the Indians. Removal of governor Moms. 287 

CHAPTER XV. 

Kio ,.»^pntmn of Governor Denny. Communicates the proprietary 
i::it'ruc fo" Sse^^^^^^^^ of the assembly on the proprietary 

•nJrnrtions FrankUn's report thercon. Petitions to the kmjr. Hear- 
ntbeTre the council. M.htia law condemned. The conduct of the 
Quake sepoved. Their difficulties. Embargo Quartermg of troops 
Sov^ncialloces. Attack on KiUanning. Money bill. Disputes. House 
r soh e^lo l^end commissioners to England, franklin and Nor.-, chosen^ 
Instruction to commissioners. Military operations. Grant ot mo' ^X t-y 
narl ament to New England colonies. Troops raised m I ennsjlvama. 
TouncTo gov^-nors convened by lord Loudon Plan for the campa.gn. 
Sre of the expedition against Louisburg. Montcalm «r^P^^'^". i-^^^f 
, Lroga and Crown Foiut. New levy of troops by the province Afia.^^^^^ 

X William Moore. -Singular resolutions of the ^^^^'^'^^y- ?, ^"^^^^I't 
elected speaker. Financial estimate and revenue. Apathy o the pi o 
vince Spi itof Pitt. Plan of campaign. Abe.cromb.e repulsed from H- 
rondeiotra Captures Frontignac. Treaty with the Indians. Provincial 
Ws ^KelaxaEon of the governor's opposition to tax the proprie Ury 
estates. Altercation between the governor and P^";^'^! ^^™^'^';^.";. 
ers Progress of general Forbes. Capture of fort 1^^ ^"""f". J/^f 
Uncial me^asures. Indian treaty. Plan of campa.gn. J.-^J ^f f^^^^^f 
the French on Champlain captured. Niagara taken ^'/^^ °f^^^^^,^^ 
Rejoicings on its capture. Proceedmgs and success of Mr. franklin. 
Ke-appointment of James Hamilton deputy-governor. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Reduction of the army. Augmentation. Money bill. ^^"^V^f^^^/^^jf^r 
of Boston. Grant of parliament to the r.o onies. W ••^; ^^'J'^ ^"^ ^^JJ°. 
kees Military aflTairs in Canada. Provincial merits m the war. Chero 
kees sue fo peace. Death of George H. Provincial pt^ceedmgs 
RequiS^on of t';-oops refused by the assembly Mohawks. 1 -igna ion 
of Mr Pitt. New requisitions. Money biU. War with Sp.un. Mea 
^ures of assembly. Indians. Peace between Great Br.tain Fran^ . and 
Spain. Ministerial rebuke of the assembly. Indian war. Expedition o^ 
general Bonquet. Money bills. John Penn, esq. deputy-governor. 385 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Arrival of John Penn. He convenes the assembly. Measures proposed 
^"ga nst the rnciians. Disputes between the governor and -sembLv on 
the tax bill. The assembly propose to petition for a ;«y^\.e«;Y"^^X 
Submit the proposition to their constituents. Adopt pet.t.o s o ine 
k ng for a clUnge of government. Opposition to ^'^ '-;^''-J^"„'b,v 
province by the presbyterians. Supported by the Quakers. Assembly 
determine to send an additional agent to Great Britain. - 

CHAPTER XVllI. 

Cupidity of the British government excited by A";.'^'"'^/" P'';^P'"'i;,,vlVi- 
Grenville's proposition for taxation. Considerations ^^ercon. Gonve 
tion of colonial agents. Reception of the propos.t.on in Pennsvhama, 



VI CONTENTS. 

&.C. Vexatious character of the proposed duties. Unpopular means of 
enforcing payment. Resolutions and proceedings of the Massachusetts 
colony. Of Pennsylvania. Resolution of Pennsylvania to send an agent 
to England. Appointment of Dr. Franklin. Opposition to his appoint- 
ment. Stamp act passed. Reception in America. Congress of repre- 
sentatives from the colonies proposed. Resolutions of the assembly of 
Pennsylvania on the stamp act. Western expedition under colonel Bon- 
quet. Submission of the Indians. Treatment and restoration of pri- 
soners by the Indians. Disposition of the army. Rewards to colonel 
Bonquet. Treaty with the Indians. Rewards offered by the governor of 
Pennsylvania for Indian scalps. Stamp officers appointed. Mr. Hughes 
compelled to decline executing the office. Reception of the stamps. 
Suspension of newspapers and law business. Resolution of the inhabit- 
ants to manufacture. Congress at New York. Eff'orts against the stamp 
act in Europe. Change of ministry. Repeal of the stamp act. Mode- 
ration of the colonists on the repeal. Rejoicings in Pennsylvania. Re- 
monstrance against tlie act of parliament, concerning paper currency. 
Obituary notice of Isaac Norris. Issue of notes by association of mer- 
chants. Theatre, remonstrances against it. Injuries to the Indians. Ap- 
prehension of Indian hostility. Measures to avert it. Indian trade. 424 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Disposition of the English nation towards America. Revenue act proposed 
■ and carried by Charles Townsend. Reasons for this measure. Proceed- 
irr^s of the assembly of Pennsylvania in relation to revenue act. Far- 
mer's letters by Mr. Dickenson, effect of. Non-importation agreement 
resorted to. Repeal of part of the duties. Tax on tea retained. Modi- 
fication of the non-importation law. Quiescent state of the public mind. 
Protest of Pennsylvania against the modified duty. Wyoming contho- 
VEKsr. Want of precision in the early charters. Extent of territory 
granted. Pretensions of the Connecticut colony to lands in Pennsylvania 
considered. Purchase by Connecticut adventurers of the Indians at 
Albany. Character of that purchase. Susquehannah company of Con- 
necticut formed. Attempt to obtain the sanction of the crown for their 
proceedings. Connecticut settlers on the Susquehannah. Their violent 
expulsion of settlers under Pennsylvania title. Outrages committed by 
Stewart and Butler. Arrest and escape of Stewart. Renewed intrusion 
of Stewart and Butler. Their devastations. Inhabitants, under colonel 
Clayton, retire to a fort. Siege and surrender of the fort. Proceedings 
of the government of Pennsylvania. Connecticut resolves to sustain the 
intrusion of their citizens. IJemonstrance of the inhabitants. Incorpo- 
lates a township in Pennsylvania. Overtures to governor Penn rejected. 
Connecticut claimants endeavour to extend their possessions. Inter- 
ference of congress invoked by Pennsylvania. Recommendation of con- 
gress. Proceedings of Pennsylvania. Attempt by the executive to repel 
the intruders from Wyoming. Unsuccessful. Conclusion of the contro- 
versy. New alarms of Indian hostility. Atrocious plan charged on lord 
Dunmore. Improbable and unsupported. Attack on the Indians by 
Cresap and others. Logan. Proceeding of the government of Penn- 
sylvania on the rumour of Indian war. I'ort at Pittsburg seized by Con- 
nolly at the command of lord Dunmore. Dunmore claims jurisdiction 
of the country west of the Alleghany, compilsed in the Pennsylvania 
charter. Seduces the settlers. His proclamation. Conduct of gover- 
nor Penn in relation to the Indians and Dunmore. Assembly ol' Penn- 
sylvania employ rangers. Indian war in Virginia. Battle of Kanhawa. 
Peace with the Indians. Edward Biddle elected speaker of assembly. 
.Judges appointed. - ........ 450 



CONTENTS. VIX 



CHAPTER XX. 



Political quiet of the colonies again broken. India company encouraged 
to make shipments of tea. Means adopted to excite opposition in the 
colonies. Resolutions of the assembly of Pennsylvania. Agents appoint- 
ed foi- the sale of the tea compelled to resign. Proceedings in the colo- 
nies on the arrival of the tea ships. Committees of correspondence. 
Indignation of the king and ministry. Ministerial vengeance on Massa- 
chusetts. Boston port act. Subversion of the Massachusetts cliarter. 
Law for the trial of offences committed in the colonies. Canada act, its 
character and effect. Spirited conduct of the Bostonians. Sympathy 
of the colonies with Massachusetts. Prudent pohcy of Pennsylvania. 
Town meeting. Provincial convention in Pennsylvania. Resolutions 
thereof. Frames instructions for the assembly. Proceedings of the assem- 
bly. Delegates to congress. Their instructions. Meeting of congress 
at Philadelphia. Proceedings. Resolutions relative to non-intercourse. 
Declaration of rights. Addresses to the king, to the inhabitants of Great 
Britain, and continental America. Dissolution of congress. Assembly 
of Pennsylvania approves of the proceedings of congress. Appoints 
delegates to a new congress. Mr. Galloway declines the appointment of 
delegate. His opposition to the proceedings of congress. Governor 
Penn attempts to persuade the assembly to send a separate address to 
the king. Reply of the assembly. Effect of the proceedings of con- 
gress in England. Ministry determine to enforce submission. Massa- 
cluisetts declared in rebellion. Conciliatory proposition of lord North. 
Rejected in the colonies. Supported by governor Penn. Resolutions 
thereon of the assembly of Pennsylvania. Second convention at Phila- 
delphia. Proceedings. Recommend the encouragement of manufac- 
tures. Empower the committee of correspondence to re-assemble the 
convention. Committee of correspondence adopts measures of defence. 
Military association formed. Assembly provides a military force on the 
recommendation of congress. Difficulties arising from the scruples of 
the Quakers in bearing arms. Their conduct, in relieving the sufferers 
in New England. Quakers claim exemption from bearing arms. Remon- 
strances against their claim. Militia system adopted by the assem- 
bly. 479 

CHAPTER XXI. 

State of the dispute with England. Hostihties commenced. Meeting of 
congress. Desire to fix the commencement of hostilities on the British. 
Advice to the inhabitants of New York, relative to the reception of British 
troops. Colouring given to the capture of Ticonderoga. Measures of 
offence and defence adopted by congress. Address to the army. Se- 
lection of a commander-in-chief. George Washington appointed. Ad- 
dress of the congress of New York on his appointment. Appointment 
of subordinate generaLs, &c. Last petition to the king. Contemplated 
rejection thereof. Manifesto of congrpss. General Wa.shington repairs 
to the army before Boston. Invasion of Canada. Arnold's expedition 
to Quebec. Attack on Quebec, under Montgomery and Arnold. Death 
of Montgomery. Arnold wounded. Americans withdraw from Quebec. 
Character of Montgomery. Military preparations of Pennsylvania. Change 
of the colonial government proposed in congress. Differences of opinion 
on the change of government in Peimsylvania. New parties formed. 
Whigs and tories. Town meeting in Piilladelphia deny the power of 
the assembly to new model the government. Measures adopted for 
calling a provincial conference. Opposition to the change of govern- 
ment. Measures of the committee for the city and county of Philadel- 



VIU CONTKNTS. 

phla. Provincial conference assembles. Proceedings. Their address 
to the people. Virginia proposes to congress to declare the colonies 
independent. Instructions of Pennsylvania delegates in relation thereto. 
Declaration of independence by the Pennsylvania conference. Mea- 
sures for organizing militia. Independence proposed and debated in 
congress. Arguments thereon, by Lee, Adams, and Dickenson. De- 
claration of independence prepared. Adopted. Proclaimed. Remarks. 
Meeting of the convention for forming constitution of Pennsylvania. 
Proceedings. Convention assumes the whole political power of the 
state. Appoints delegates to congress. Assembly, last meetings of. Ex- 
piration of the term of, and extinction of the colonial government. 513 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Review of the province. Government. How constituted. Legislative 
powers. Judiciary. Supreme courts. Courts o^ommon pleas. Quar- 
ter sessions. Admiralty courts. Land office. Officers of the govern- 
ment. Laws. Derived from England. In relation to personal rights. 
Naturalization. Freemen and slaves. Servants. Political rights. Re- 
ligious rights. Relative rights. Laws relative to real estate. Personal 
estate, liemedies. Preventive and compensatory. Arrest. Forms of 
action. Trial. Sanction of evidence. Execution. Insolvents. Criminal 
laws. Merit of Penn in relation thereto. Punishments. Change of 
criminal code. Religion. Quakers. Episcopalians. Roman catholics. 
Presbyterians. Baptists. Menonisls. Dunkards. Swenckfelders. So- 
ciety of the woman in the wilderness. Unitas Fratrum or Moravians. 
Finance of Pennsylvania. Commerce and manufactures. Literature and 
science. Early establishment of schools. Printing. College. Philoso- 
phical society. Literary men. Mathematics and astronomy. Botany 
and natural history. Medicine. Moral and natural philosophy. Poet- 
ry. 543 

Appendix. 595 



V 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



CHAPTER I. 

Obscurity of the ancient history of America"'«Abundant 
sources of its modern history •••Common origin of New 
York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware^^^«Disco- 
veries in North America by the Spaniards and Portuguese 

• •••Of the French, by Verrazano^^^'Of the English, by 
Cabot, Gilbert, Raleigh, GosnokN •••North and South Vir- 
ginia companies formed""Voyagesof Hudson^^^^Discovery 
of the Delaware bay and Hudson river'««^Exploration of New 
York bay and Hudson river^-^ •Intercourse with the natives 

• •••Commerce of the Dutch East India company with Ame- 
rica^ •••Protection extended by the States General to maritime 
adventurers — Licensed trading company of Amsterdam^^^* 
Dutch settlements at New York^'^^Plymouth adventurers^'^* 
Dutch West India company — Their operations in North 
America* ••Settlements on Delaware bay and river^^^' Colony 
planted by De Vries^^-«Destroyed by the Indians ••••Second 
voyage of De Vries«^^«Swedish West India or South com- 
pany^- ••Swedish colony under Minuits- •••Under Printz^^*^ 
English driven from the Delaware by Dutch and Swedes^^-^ 
Swedish seltlements^^^- Governor Risingh — War between 
the Dutch and Swedes — Dutch power established^-^'Dis- 
pute with Maryland^^^^English settlements under patent of 
Sir Edward Plocyden^-^^NewEtigland traders and settlers*-- 
Conquest of New Netherlands by the English- -• -Reduction 
of the Dutch possessions on the Delaware — Government 
there — Rebellion of the Long Finne — Indian troubles — 
Incorporation of the town of Newcastle — Dispute with 

1 



2 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

Maryland — New Netherlands recaptured by the Dutch — 
Western shore of the Delaware divided into three jurisdic- 
tions' •• -Indian troubles- •• -Purchases' •• -Laws* -'Settlements 
in New Jersey""Government'-- -William Penn becomes 
interested in New Jersey- -"Constitution. 

The ancient history of America is buried in profound ob- 
scurity. This is more especially true of the northern portion 
of this great continent. Indicia of a numerous and civilized 
population, over whose memories and labours unnumbered 
ages have rolled, are yet discoverable on the shores of our 
ocean lakes, on the banks of our mighty rivers, and in the 
depths of our almost impenetrable forests. But these teach 
us no more of the ancient inhabitants, than is known of the 
most aged of mortals — that they were, and are not. We 
are doomed, perhaps, to be for ever ignorant of the origin and 
progress of that race, which preceded the inhabitants found 
upon our coasts, at the first visits of Columbus and his suc- 
cessors, who are supposed not only to have adorned our coun- 
try with the works of science and of art, but to have conquered 
and enlightened a large portion of those climes, which igno- 
rance and pride have denominated the old world. 

But if no effort of industry or ingenuity can penetrate the 
gloom which rests on those remote ages, such is not the case 
with the modern history of America. The art of printing 
has preserved to us all that is useful or curious in her annals, 
since the first Spanish discoveries. The records of European 
colonization upon her shores are abundant, and many of those 
which relate to the Anglo-American provinces, are tediously, 
if not uselessly minute. The compiler, therefore, of the his- 
tory of the North American colonies, can fail onl}' from negli- 
gence, to collect every important fact appertaining to his sub- 
ject. 

So abundant and accessible are these materials, that most 
writers on colonial history have been tempted to preface their 
particular story with a general account of the discovery and 
settlement of America. Even the biography of Washington 
has, for introduction, the liistory of our continent, from its 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 3 

discovery by the Cabots, to the commencement of the revo- 
lutionary war.* Perhaps we should not complain of this 
frequent recurrence to early events; since, if they be not 
intimately connected with the story before us, they occa- 
sionally serve to adorn it, and receive from every writer 
new illustration. 

Believing, however, that so wide a prefatory range is not 
necessary to the comprehension of Pennsylvania history, we 
shall confine ourselves to those states, whose early story is 
inseparable from hers. The provinces of New York, New 
Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, partaking of a common 
origin, it seems proper to trace the history of the two first 
to the period at which the charter to William Penn was 
granted, and that of Delaware to the time of the dissolution 
of her union with Pennsylvania. This task shall be per- 
formed with as much brevity as is consistent with the duty of 
the historian. 

The Spaniards and Portuguese, not many years after the 
voyages of Columbus, explored the coasts of North America 
as high as Labrador, to which the latter gave its present name.t 
As they made their approaches from the West Indies, they 
may have landed upon the shores of the Delaware and Hud- 
son rivers. But, possessing the fine climates and rich mines 
of the south, they had no inducements to make permanent 
settlements in a country less attractive. Florida was occu- 
pied by the Spaniards in 1512 : and its boundaries, as given 
by the charter of Philip the second to Menendez, extended 
from Newfoundland to the 22d degree of northern latitude.^ 

It is supposed that John de Verrazano, whilst in the ser- 
vice of Francis I. of France, visited the bay of New York. § 
It is certain that in 1523 he coasted the American continent, 
from the 30th to the 50th degree of north latitude; that he 
landed and communed with the natives in several places; and 

• Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. i. f See N. A. R. vol. vi. 

(n.s.) 49, 50. 1 Moulton's N. Y. 130. Beschryvinge Van Nieuw Ne- 
derlandt, &c. + See vol. iv. (n. s.) N. A. U. 74. De Laet. § Doct. 

Miller's Disc. 1 vol. N. Y. Hist. Col. 



4 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

that, by virtue of the discoveries made by him and other 
French navigators, Henry IV. gave to Des Monts all the 
American lands from the 40th to the 46th degree of north 
latitude.* The loss of Verrazano, his vessel and crew, on a 
subsequent voyage (1524,) procrastinated, for ten years, the 
efforts of the French to establish colonies in America; and 
the voyages and discoveries of Cartier, in 1535, turned their 
attention more particularly to the river St. Lawrence. t 

The avarice of the politic and cautious Henry the seventh 
of England, induced that prince to countenance the enter- 
prising and skilful Cabots, in their search for new countries, 
and a short passage by the west to the golden climes of India.]: 
These distinguished seamen discovered the islands of New- 
foundland and St. Johns, and explored the coasts of the con- 
tinent from the 67th to the 3Sth degree of northern latitude. 
But no fruits were immediately derived from their labours. 
It was reserved for the maritime enterprise of Elizabeth's 
reign, to give to the English nation a fuller knowledge of the 
new world, and a proper sense of the advantages which might 
be drawn from it. Patronised by the earl of Warwick, Mar- 
tin Frobisher, in three successive voyages, explored the shores 
of Labrador and Greenland. § And Sir Humphrey Gilbert 
made two unsuccessful attempts to establish a colony on the 
North American continent, in the last of which he perished. || 
But his fate, induced by ignorance, mismanagement, and 
scantiness of means, did not deter otiiers, better qualified, 
from similar efforts. The chivalric Sir Walter Raleigh, the 
half brother of Gilbert, obtained from the queen, for a com- 
pany of his formation, the very liberal donation of all the 
lands they should discover between the 33d and 40th degrees. 
Two vesselsTI despatched by them, having visited Pamptico 
sound and Roanoke bay, made a report so favourable of the 
beauty and fertility of the country, that the company were 
excited to new exertions, and Elizabeth gave to the recently 

• See letter of Verrazano in 2 Hackluyt, and in vol. i. N. Y. Hist. Col. 
Williamson's Hist. N. C. vol. i. 15. MoultoR, i. 134. f Hackluyt. 

* 1497. § 1576, 1577, 1578. ll 1580. H Commanded by 

Amadas and Barlow. 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



discovered region the name of Virginia, as a memorial that 
it was discovered in the reign of a virgin queen. But the 
subsequent efforts of this company proved unfortunate. A 
colony was indeed planted at Roanoke,* but reduced to dis- 
tress, by the delay of necessary supplies, they availed them- 
selves of a visit to their shores, by sir Francis Drake, to 
return to Europe. t Another colony, under the direction of 
captain John White, soon after sent out to the same place, 
perished by famine, or the sword of the natives: having been 
deprived, in consequence of the threatened invasion of Eng- 
land by the Spaniards, of the succour which White had re- 
turned to seek for them. 

Bartholomew Gosnold, abandoning the circuitous route 
hitherto pursued, by the Canary islands, sought a more direct 
course to the northern continent, by steering due west. He 
visited and gave names to cape Cod, and the islands of Mar- 
tha's Vineyard, and Elizabeth. | His report taught the English, 
that there were numerous attractions, far north of the place 
they had hitherto attempted to colonize. New plans for co- 
lonization were formed, which were supported by the re- 
port of persons sent out by the merchants of Bristol, and the 
earl of Southampton and lord Arundel of Wardour, to ascer- 
tain the correctness of Gosnold's statements. By the zeal 
of Richard Hackluyt, prebendary ot Westminster, to whom 
England was more indebted than to any man of his age, for her 
American possessions, an association, embracing men of rank 
and of business, was formed, to establish colonies in America. § 

To this company, James I. granted a charter of incorpora- 
tion. The extent and value of the American territories, were 
now somewhat better known, than when Elizabeth gave 
to Raleigh the whole of the lands he should discover unoc- 
cupied by Christians. The king divided that portion of the 
continent, which stretches from the 34th to the 46th degree 
of north latitude, into two nearly equal districts. The one 
called the first or South colony of Virginia, the other, the 



• 1584. f 1586. + 1603. § Purchase, vol. ii. 5. Bel- 

knap's American Biography. N. A. Re. vol. vi. (n. s.) 36. Robertson, 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



second or North colony. He empowered sir Thomas Gates, 
sir George Summers, Richard Hackluyt, and their associates, 
mostly residents of London, to settle any part of the former 
they should choose; the latter district he allotted to sundry 
knights, gentlemen, and merchants of Bristol, Plymouth, and 
other parts of the west of England. To each of these com- 
panies he granted fifty miles each way, along the coast, from 
the place of their settlement, and one hundred miles of ex- 
tent of the interior. The council of the former company 
was established at London, and of the latter at Plymouth, 
whence the title of the London and Plymouth companies.* 

Under this, and another charter to the Plymouth com- 
pany, in 1620, the provisions of which were not the most 
friendly to political freedom, nor the best adapted to pro- 
mote the objects for which they were designed, the permanent 
settlement of Virginia and the New England colonies was 
commenced and prosecuted. It is not necessary here to trace 
their various fortune, or to mark their growth, from the state of 
weak and sickly plants, to that of the magnificent, deep-rooted, 
and umbrageous tree. 

The long cherished and still unextinguished desire, of dis- 
covering a north-west passage to the east, gave birth to several 
voyages by Henry Hudson. Having in his third voyage, 
whilst in the service of the Dutch East India company, failed 
to find this passage by the north, he resolved to explore the 
coasts of North America, with the view of ascertaining vvhe- 
ther a passage to the Pacific ocean, might not be found through 
that continent.! He ran down the coast from New Found- 
land, to 35^41' northern latitude. Returning by the same 
course, he on the 28th day of August, 1609, discovered and 
entered the bay of Delaware; but, finding shoal water and 
sand in the inlet, he did not venture upon its exploration. J 

Coasting along the eastern shore of New Jersey, Hudson, 
on the third day of September, anchored his ship, the Half 

• April 10, 1606. Monod.un. His. vol. xxx. Hazard's Collect, i. Stith, 
Beverly, Robertson. \ Voyages undertaken by the Dutch East India 

company. Hudson's Journal. Purchas. 1. N. Y. Hist. Col. 81. 162. Moul- 
ton's Hist. N. Y. i Hudson's Journal. 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



Moon, within Sandy Hook. A week was spent in examining 
the neighbouring shores, and in receiving and returning the 
visits of the natives; during which, one of his seamen named 
John Coleman, an Englishman, was killed; the boat, in which 
he and several others had passed the Kills, between Bergen 
Neck and Staten island, having been attacked by two canoes 
with twenty-six Indians, the unfortunate Coleman was shot 
by an arrow through the throat. On the twelfth, Hudson 
entered New York bay through the Narrows.* 

The time between the eleventh and nineteenth of Septem- 
ber, was employed in exploring the North river. (1) He as- 
cended with his ship, as high as the spot on which the city of 
Albany now stands, and his boat proceeded to the sites of 
Waterford and Lansinburg. The decreased volume of the 
stream, and the shoals which obstructed his further way, de- 
priving him of every hope of reaching the South sea by 
this route, he prepared to retrace his steps. Commencing 
his return on the twenty-second of September, he slowly de- 
scended the river: on the fourth of October he put to sea, 
and reached England on the seventh of November, 1609.t 
His vessel and part of his crew returned to Holland, but the 
jealousy of James I. forbade Hudson and his English sailors 
to revisit that country.^ In the following year, Hudson 
re-entered the service of the London company, under whose 
auspices he had made his two first northern voyages, with 
the design of again seeking a north-west passage through 
Davis' Straits. In this voyage his crew mutinied, and aban- 
doned him, his only son, and some half dozen of his men 
who remained faithful, to perish amid the fields of ice, in the 
vicinity of the bay which now bears his name.§ 

Whilst in the North river, Hudson had much intercourse 
with the natives. Those at the mouth of the river were fierce 
and inimical, while those at a distance from the sea, were mild 
and hospitable. But the superior power which the Europeans 



• Hudson's Journal. Moulton. (1) See Note A, Appendix. 

+ Journal of Hudson. N. Y. Hist. Col. Moulton. + Lambreehsten 

Ebeling. Moulton. § June 21, 1611. Purchas. Moulton. 



8 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

possessed, was exercised upon friends and foes williout mercy. 
Of the former, one was shot to death for the commission of 
a petty theft, and of the latter, nine were more deservedly 
slain, in an attack which they made upon the vessel. Thus 
the first visit of the white men to the shores of the Hudson 
was signalized by the violent death of ten of their aboriginal 
inhabitants. 

The Dutch East India company, although disappointed in 
the main design of Hudson's voyage, found sufficient induce- 
ment, in the trade for furs he had opened with the na- 
tives, to cherish with them a commercial intercourse. A 
second voyage to the Hudson, made under their authority, in 
1610, proving successful, was repeated. Private adventurers 
were stimulated to competition; and the profits of the com- 
pany decreasing, they applied to the States General for a 
monopoly, by which a remuneration might be secured to 
them, for the expense and risk of their discovery.* 

The States decreed,! that "all persons who had discovered, 
or might discover, any rivers, bays, harbours, or countries, be- 
fore unknown, should enjoy, beside other advantages, the 
exclusive trade there for four successive voyages. "| Under 
the protection of this edict, the Amsterdam Licensed Trading 
West Indian company was formed, with the design not only 
to protect the acquisitions already made on the Hudson, but 
to extend their commercial privileges, by the discovery of 
circumjacent places. Adrian Blokand Ilendrick Christianse 
sailed in the service of this company. (1614) lilok arrived 
first at Mannahattan, and his ship having been accidentally 
burned, he built a small vessel, with which he passed through the 
East river, into Long Island sound. Coasting along the Con- 
necticut and Massachusetts shores, he fell in with Christianse 
near cape Cod. Together they proceeded toward Mannahat- 
tan, and on their way discovered Rhode Island and Connec- 
ticut river.§ Upon their return to the Hudson, they, with 
permission of the natives, erected a fort on Castle island. 

• De Laet. f March 27,1614, or, as it is said, 1611, 1612. Moiilton, 

340. 1 Great Plaket book, I. U. 563. . Moulton. ^ Ue Laet. 

Moulton, 



HISTORY OF TENNSVLVAMA. 



In the preceding year, it is said, a small warehouse was 
built upon an island below Albany, and that, during the pre- 
sent, four houses were put up on Mannahattan. In the fol- 
lowing year, a redoubt was constructed upon the western bank 
of the river, near the southern extremity of that island.* 
The most important event of this period, was the alliance, 
by formal treaty, between tiie Dutch and the Five Nation con- 
federacy of Indians; at the execution of which, it is supposed, 
the Lenape tribes were also present, and, by the united in- 
stances of the Dutch and Iroquois, consented to the fatal 
assumption of the character of the woman, in the manner 
which will be related hereafter.! 

The Hollanders, having confined their views of coloniza- 
tion to their Asiatic, African, and South American possessions, 
and perhaps restrained by the title preferred by the English, 
to the greater part of North America, in virtue of the disco- 
very by Cabot and other English navigators, had hitherto 
made no effort to people the shores of the Hudson. It has 
been asserted, that, between the years 1617 and 1620, settle- 
ments were made at Bergen in New Jersey, in the vicinage 
of the Esopus Indians, and at Schenectady; but the evidence 
upon this subject is not satisfactory. { It has also been said, 
upon doubtful authority, that sir Thomas Dale and sir Samuel 
Argal, in the year 1614 or 1616, on their return from an ex- 
pedition against the French at Acadia, visited Mannahattan, 
and compelled the Dutch to submit to the English power, 
and to contribute to the expenses of their voyage.§ 

But, although the Dutch did not immediately make settle- 
ments in New Netherlands, || they appear to have been well 
disposed to assist others in tliis design. They encouraged 
the puritans, who, under the care of the Rev. John Robinson, 
had fled from persecution in England, first to Amsterdam 
and then to Ley den, to seek a safe and more commodious 
asylum in the new world; though it was understood that these 
sectarians intended to preserve their national character, by 

• De Laet. Moulton. f 1617. Heckwelcler. t Monlton. 

§ Beauchamp Pltmtiigenet's Description of New Albion. Moulton. || The 
name given to the country from Sandy Hook to Cape Cod. 
2 



10 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

receiving from the English government a patent for the lands 
they should inhabit. The germ of the New England colo- 
nies, planted at Plymouth in 1620, v^^as originally designed 
for the country lying between the island of Mannahattan 
and the present western line of Connecticut. The season 
of their arrival* on the American coast, adverse winds and 
currents, and the discovery of a portion of the country, 
from whence the aborigines had lately been swept by pesti- 
lence, induced the pilgrims to seat themselves at Plymouth.! 
The charge of want of faith in captain Jones, under whose 
guidance they sailed, and of his having been bribed by the 
Dutch to land his passengers at a distance from the Hudson, 
is wanting in verisimilitude. 

In 1G21 the great West India company was formed in Hol- 
land, endowed with the power of the States General, and 
supported by their wealth, J The licensed trading company, 
which had hitherto conducted commercial operations in the 
Hudson, and had been content to confine themselves to one 
river, and a small portion of the coast, was merged in the 
new company, to whom may properly be ascribed the first 
efforts of the Dutch nation, to colonize the lands discovered 
by Hudson. 

By direction of this company, a number of settlers, pro- 
perly provided with the means of trade, subsistence, and de- 
fence, were despatched, under the command of Cornelius 
Jacobse Mey.§ With more enterprise and industry than his 
predecessors, this navigator visited the shores from Cape Cod, 
to the south or Delaware river, (1) where he proposed to fix 
his own residence. From him the bay of New York was 
called Port May, the bay of the Delaware, New Port May, 
and its northern cape. Cape May, and the southern. Cape 
Cornelius. II Under his orders, a fort called Nassau was 
built, at a place called Techaacho, upon or near Sassackon, 
now Timber creek, which empties into the Delaware, on the 
eastern shore, a few miles below Coaquenakii, now Philadel- 

• November, 1620. f Robertson, Dudly letter, Moulton, \ See 
Charter in Uaz. Collec, § 1623, De Laet. (1) See Note B. 

Append. ft De Laet. 



HISTOHY OF PENNSYLVANIA. M 

pbia.* During this year, the forts New Amsterdam and 
Orange were also erected, upon the sites of the great cities 
of New York and Albany. 

The administration of the affairs of New Netherlands was 
confided, by the West India company, to Peter Minuit, 
with whom came a colony of Walloons, who settled upon 
Long Island at a bend of the shore opposite to Mannahattan.t 
In 1627, governor Minuit opened a friendly and commercial 
intercourse with the Plymouth settlers, and prosecuted the 
fur trade with great advantage to the company. % 

In 1629, the West India company granted, by charter, 
special privileges to all persons who should plant any colony 
in New Netherlands;§ giving to the patroon, or founder, 
exclusive property in large tracts of land, with extensive ma- 
norial and seignoral rights. Thus encouraged, several of the di- 
rectors, among whom Goodyn, Bloemaert, Pauuw, and Van 
Renselaer, were most distinguished, resolved to make large 
territorial acquisitions, and sent out Wouter Van Twiller, 
of Niewer Kerck, a clerk of the Amsterdam department of 
the company, to direct its public affairs, and to make a se- 
lection of lands for the benefit of individual directors.|| ^ 

One of the three sliips \yhich came over in 1629, visited 
an Indian village on the south-west corner of Delaware bay, 
and purchased from the three chiefs of the resident tribe, in 
behalf of the Heer Goodyn, a tract of land, extending from 
Cape Hinloop to the mouth of the river, being in length 
thirty-two, and breadth two, English miles. In the succeed- 
ing year, several extensive purchases were made, for Goodyn 
and Bloemaert, from nine Indian chiefs, of land at Cape May, 
in length sixteen miles along the bay and sixteen miles in 
breadtli; for the director Pauuw, Staten island and a large tract 
on the western side of the Hudson, in the neighbourhood of Ho- 
boken; and for Van Renselaer, very extensive tracts along the 

• Joost Hartger's Niew Netherlands. Acrelius nya Swerige, Ebe- 
ling's der Staat New Jersey. Campanlus. Moulton's N. Y. Barker's 
Sketches. f At the Wal bocht, 1624-5. * Moulton. § See 

the charter in Moulton's N. Y. 11 Moulton. 



12 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

river, above and below Fort Orange.* The impolicy of these 
large and exclusive appropriations was subsequently felt and 
condemned, and their ratification seems to have been obtained 
by admitting other directors to participate in them. The ter- 
ritory of Goodyn was denominated Swanwendael,! that of 
Pauuw, Pavonia, and that of Van Renselaer, Renselaerwick.| 

For the purpose of prosecuting their plans of colonization, 
the above named and several other directors entered into an 
association,§ to which they admitted on equal terms, David 
Pieterson De Vries, an experienced and enterprising navi- 
gator. || Their immediate design was to colonize the Dela- 
ware river; to cultivate tobacco and grain, and to establish a 
whale and seal fishery. The command of the vessels, ap- 
pointed to carry out the colonists, was given to De Vries, 
who left the Texel on the 12th December, 1630, and arrived 
in the Delaware bay in the course of the winter. He found 
the country deserted by Europeans. Fort Nassau was aban- 
doned, and in possession of the Indians. Captain Mey had 
departed, bearing with him the affections and regrets of the 
natives, who long cherished his memory. De Vries and his 
companions selected a spot on Lewis' creek,1[ for their set- 
tlement, and unimpeded by the season, which he reports as 
uncommonly mild, they erected a house, surrounded with 
palisades, and called it Fort Oplandt, serving as a fort, a 
house of commerce, and place of rendezvous. The whole 
plantation, as included within the limits of Goodyn's purchase 
extended to the Little Tree corner or Boompjes Hoeck.** 

On the return of De Vries to Holland, the colony was left 
under the command of Giles Osset, who set upon a post or 
pillar the arms of the States General, painted on tin, in evi- 
dence of their claim and possession. An Indian, ignorant 
of the object of this exhibition, and, perhaps, unconscious of 
the right of exclusive property, appropriated to his own use 
this honoured symbol. The folly of Osset considered this 
offence, not only as a larceny, but as a national insult; and he 

• See Moulton. f Valley of Swans. i Moulton. § 16th 

Oct. 1630. II De Laet. Moulton. 1 Called by the Dutch Hoerne 

Kill. ** Corrupted into Bombay Hook. De Vries. Moulton, 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 13 

urged his complaints and demands for redress, with so much 
vehemence and importunity, that the harassed and perplexed 
tribe brought him the head of the offender.* This was a 
punishment which Osset neither wished nor had foreseen, 
and he ouf^ht justly to have dreaded its consequences. In 
vain he reprehended the severity of the Indians, and told 
them, had they brought the delinquent to him, he would have 
been dismissed with a reprimand. The love of vengeance, 
inseparable from the Indian character, sought a dire gratifica- 
tion; and, though the death of the culprit was doomed and 
executed by his own tribe, still they beheld its cause in the 
exaction of the strangers. Availing themselves of the sea- 
son in which greater part of the Dutch were engaged in the 
cultivation of the fields, at a distance from their house, the 
Indians entered it, under the amicable pretence of trade, and 
murdered the unsuspicious Osset, with a single sentinel, who 
attended him. Thence proceeding to the fields, they fell 
upon the labourers, in the moment of exchanging friendly 
salutations, and massacred every individual. This conduct 
of the Indians, with its extenuating circumstances, as related 
by themselves to De Vries, is sufficiently atrocious; but it 
is neither improbable nor inconsistent with the disposition 
the aborigines had frequently displayed towards foreign- 
ers, that the desire of possessing the white man's wealth, was 
as powerful a stimulant to violence, as the thirst for ven- 
geance. 

In December, 1632, De Vries again arrived from Holland. 
He found no vestiges of his colonists, save the ashes of their 
dwelling, and their unburied carcasses. Attracted by the firing 
of a cannon, the savages approached his vessel with guilty 
hesitation. But having at length summoned courage to ven- 
ture on board, they gave a circumstantial narrative of the de- 
struction of his people. De Vries deemed it politic to pardon 
what he could not safely punish; and was, moreover, induced, 
by the pacific disposition of his employers, to seek reconci- 
liation. He made a new treaty with the Indians, and after- 

* Moulton. Barker's Sketches. 



14 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

wards, with a view to obtain provisions, ascended the river 
above Fort Nassau. He had nearly fallen a victim here to 
the perfidy of the natives. Pretending to comply with his 
request, they directed him to enter the Timmerkill creek 
(Cooper's,) which furnished a convenient place for an attack, 
but, warned by a female of the tribe of their design, and 
that a crew of a vessel (supposed to be from Virginia) had 
been there murdered, he returned to Fort Nassau, which he 
found filled with savages. They attempted to surprise him, 
more than forty entering his vessel; but, aware of their in- 
tention, he ordered them ashore with threats, declaring that 
their Mannetto, or Great Spirit, had revealed their wicked- 
ness. But subsequently, pursuing the humane and pacific 
policy which had hitherto distinguished him, he consented 
to the wishes they expressed, of forming a treaty of amity, 
which was confirmed with the customary presents on their 
part; but they declined his gifts, saying, they did not now 
give presents that they might receive others in return.* 

Failing to procure the necessary provision, De Vries, leav- 
ing part of his crew in the bay to prosecute the whale fishery, 
sailed to Virginia, where, as the first visiter from New Ne- 
therlands, he was kindly received, and his wants supplied. 
Upon his return to the Delaware,! finding the whale fishery 
unsuccessful, he hastened his departure, and with the other 
colonists returned to Holland, visiting Fort Amsterdam on 
his way. Thus, at the expiration of twenty-five years from 
the discovery of the Delaware by Hudson, not a single 
European remained upon its shores. (1) 

It has been erroneously affirmed that the Swedes settled 
on the Delaware in the year 1627 or 1631.$ The design of 
establishing a colony here was fondly cherished by Gustavus 
Adolphus, but was not effected during his life. This prince 
■fell at Lutzen in 1632, and several years elapsed, after his 
death, before the ministers of his daughter Christina gave 
their countenance to the undertaking. The successful enter- 

• De Vries. Moulton. t April, 1633. (1) See NoteC. 

t Smith's History of New Jersey. Proud. Holmes' Annals. 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. It 

prise of the Dutch West India company had excited their 
northern neighbours, the Swedes, to the formation of a simi- 
lar association, whose operations might also extend to Asia, 
Africa, and America. William Usselinx, or Usseling, a Hol- 
lander, who had been connected with the Dutch company, 
obtained the assent of Gustavus to this measure.* Designing 
to plant a colony on the Delaware, he prepared and published 
articles of association for that purpose, accompanied with a 
description of the fertility of the soil, and the commercial 
advantages of the country. The king by proclamation ex- 
horted his subjects to contribute to the formation of the com- 
pany,! and recommended its plan to a diet of the states, by 
whom it was confirmed.^ Persons of every rank, from the 
king to the peasant, subscribed; an admiral, a vice-admiral, 
merchants, assistants, commissaries, and a military force were 
appointed, and the company received the name of the South 
company. But the intervention of a German war suspended 
its operations, and the death of the king proved fatal to the 
main project. The subordinate one, however, of a colony 
on the Delaware, was revived during the minority of Chris- 
tina, under the administration of Oxenstierna.§ 

From 1 633 to 1638, no attempt was made by any European 
nation to settle on the banks of the Delaware, unless during 
this period sir Edmund Ploeyden commenced his ephemeral 
palatinate of New Albion. It is probable, however, that the 
Dutch visited the river for the purpose of trade, and occa- 
sionally remained for some time at fort Nassau. That they 
vigilantly watched the approach of other nations to these 
shores, is obvious, from the promptitude of their remon- 
strances against the subsequent attempts of the English and 
Swedes. 

Minuit, who had been superseded by Vouter Van Twiller, 
in the direction of the afi'airs of New Netherlands, proceeded 
to Holland, and thence to Sweden, where he succeeded in re- 
viving the plan of colonizing the Delaware, under the imme- 



• 21st Dec. 1624. f 1626, July. ^ 1627. § Campanius 

Acrelius. Moulton. 



16 HISTORY OK PF.NlVSYT.VANIAi 

diate authority of the government, then administered by the 
excellent Oxenstierna. In 1637 or 1638, an expedition was 
fitted out, under Minuit's command, consisting of the Key of 
Caiman, a ship of war, and a transport named the Bird Grip, 
(Griphen,) carrying a clergyman, an engineer, and many set- 
tlers, with the necessary provisions, and merchandise for 
trade, and presents to the Indians.* Landing at Inlopen, the 
inner cape on the western shore of the Delaware bay, and 
delighted by its verdure and fertility, the Swedes named it 
Paradise point. Proceeding thence up the bay and river, 
they opened communications with the natives, and purchased 
from them the soil upon the western shore, from the capes to 
the falls at Sankikans, opposite to the present city of Tren- 
ton. Soon after (1638) they laid the foundation of the town 
and fort of Christina, at a place called by the natives Hopo- 
haccan, on the north of the stream Minquas, alias Suspe- 
cough, not far from its mouth.t Not a vestige of this town 
or fort remains, but a plan of both, drawn by the engineer 
Lindstrom, has been preserved by Campanius. In 1747, this 
spot was chosen to protect the country from an attack by the 
French and Spaniards; and, in throwing up a redoubt, at the 
distance of three feet below the surface, a Swedish coin of 
Christina was found by some workmen, among axes, shovels, 
and other implements.^ The author of Bescryvinge van Ne- 
therlands, kc. asserts, that Minuit entered the Delaware under 
pretenqe of obtaining refreshment on his way. to the West In- 
dies, but threw off his disguise by erecting this fort. The vigi- 
lance of the Dutch soon discovered this intrusion. Kieft, who 
about this time succeeded Van Twiller as governor of New 
York, remonstrated with Minuit, by a letter dated May 6, 
163S, asserting, that the whole South river of New Nether- 
lands had been in the Dutch possession many years, above 
and below Christina, beset with forts, and sealed with their 
blood.§ This remonstrance was unreasonable and unwarrant- 

* Bescryringe van Virginie. De Laet. Arcellus. Swedish MS. re- 
cords, communicated by the Kev. Nich. Collin. j Swedish records, MS. 
+ Kalm's Travels. Barker's Sketches. § N. Y. Records. Acre- 

lius. Smith's N. Y. 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 17 

able, if, as Campanius asserts, the Swedes had obtained in 
1731 the right of the Dutch by purchase. The allegation of 
this right may have induced forbearance on the part of the 
Dutch authorities, but did not deter them from erecting a fort 
at this period at the Hoarkills. The Swedes maintained a 
harmonious intercourse with the natives, but do not appear to 
have received immediately any additional force from Sweden. 
Minuit died in his fort at Christina about three years after his 
arrival.* 

On the 15th of February, 1642-3, John Printz, a lieutenant- 
colonel of the Swedish army, having been appointed governor, 
accompanied by John Campanius arrived in the Delaware 
with another colony, on board a ship of war called the Fame, 
and a transport named the Swan. The new governor esta- 
blished himself on the island of Tennekong or Tinicum, where 
he erected a fort called New Gottenburg, a handsome and con- 
venient dwelling for his own use, denominated Printzhoff, or 
Printz Hall, and a church, which was consecrated in 1646. 
Around this nucleus the principal settlers reared their habita- 
tions. By his instructions from the Swedish government, the 
right of soil was acknowledged to be in the aborigines, and he 
was directed to confirm the contract made by Minuit, for the 
lands on the Delaware, from Henlopen to Sankikans, extend- 
ing inland so far as the necessities of the settlers should re- 
quire; to refrain from every species of injury to the natives, 
and to cultivate their favour,by a justand reciprocal commerce, 
supplying them with articles suitable to their wants; and to 
employ all friendly means to civilize and win them to the 
Christian faith. 

Printz honestly pursued his instructions, which were also 
faithfully observed by his successors, and no hostilities actually 
commenced between them and the Indians. But the respect 
and affection of the latter were not unchangeable, since they 
nearly expired with the exhaustion of the Swedish stores. 
When the capacity for making presents had ceased, the 

* Acreliui. Swedish Kecoids, MS5. 



18 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

savages held councils, in which they earnestly deliberated on 
the propriety of preserving or exterminating their new^ly 
settled neighbours. Justice and mercy prevailed. The old 
and the wise expatiated on the benevolence and utility of the 
strangers, and assured the young and violent that they could 
make no easy conquest of men armed with swords and mus- 
kets, and guarded by courage and vigilance. The ire of the 
Indians wasparticularly directed towards the clergyman, whom 
they supposed to be engaged, during divine service, in exhort- 
ing the Swedes against them; the minister alone speaking, 
whilst all others were silent. 

Before Printz's departure from Sweden, an English settle- 
ment was known to exist on the eastern shore of the Dela- 
ware. About sixty persons had settled near Oijtsessing, Jlsa- 
mohocking, or Hog (Salem) creek, in 1640 or 1641. These 
were probably the pioneers of sir Edmund Ploeyden. The 
Swedes had purchased from the Indians all the land, from 
Cape May to Narriticon, or Rackoon creek, for the purpose of 
brindne: them under their dominion, and Printz was com- 
manded to attach the English to him, or to procure their re- 
moval without violence.* But these instructions were not 
obeyed, since we are told, that the Dutch and Swedes united 
to expel the English, and that the latter, assuming the task 
of keeping out the intruders, possessed themselves of their 
settlement, and erected a fort, which they called Elftsborg, or 
Elsinborg.t Acrelius gives another version of the erection 
of this fort, assuring us that it was reared after the building 
of fort Kasimer in 1651, as a counterpoise to the Dutch power 
acquired by that fortress; and that the guns of Elsinborg com- 
pelled the Hollanders to lower their flag from the mast head 
of the passing vessels, which was taken in great dudgeon, 
and proved one of the moving causes of their subsequent 
wrath, so fatal to the dominion of the Swedes. | Be this as 
it may, all authors agree that the Swedes were driven out by 
an invincible foe; that the moschettos, overwhelming in 

* Acrelius. f Beschiy vinge Van Virginie. Smith's New Jersey. 

\ Acrelius. 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 19 

numbersjand incomparable for pertinacious activity, obtained 
exclusive possession of the fort; and that the discomfited 
Swedes gave the name of the enemy to the abandoned posi- 
tion, and called it Moschettosburg. 

The Salem settlers were not the only Englishmen who 
endeavoured, at this time, to establish themselves in the vi- 
cinity of the Delaware. A colony, seated under the patent 
of lord Baltimore, was discovered on the Schuylkill, and the 
watchful Kieft despatched two sloops to expel them, which 
appears to have been effected without difficulty. His in- 
structions, dated May 22, 1642, to Jan Jansen Alpendam, 
who commanded the expedition, are on record, and strongly 
assert the right of the Dutch, both to the soil and trade 
there. * 

The Swedish government anticipated resistance from the 
Dutch West India company, of whose pretensions to the 
shores of the Delaware they were well aware. Printz was 
instructed to protest against their claims, supported, as was 
admitted, by the actual possession of fort Nassau, then garri- 
soned by twenty men; and, in case of hostile efforts on their 
part, to resist to the uttermost. 

Printz returned to Sweden in 1652, leaving his son-in-law, 
John Pappegoia, vice-governor. In 1654, Pappegoia also 
returned to Sweden, and the government devolved upon 
John Risingh, who had come out a short time before, clothed 
with the authority of commissary and counsellor. He conti- 
nued, under the title of director-general, to preside over the 
Swedes, until they were entirely reduced by the Dutch. 
He renewed the former treaties with the Indians, and, at a 
council held in 1654, they promised to maintain a sincere 
friendship. The engineer Lindstrom accompanied Risingh. 
Both actively promoted the welfare of the colony, and the 
former made many minute explorations, and constructed 
plans of the several forts of the river, aided in improving 
their fortifications, and framed a map of the bay, river, and 
adjacent country, which is remarkable for its correctness, 

• Smith's N, Y, Dutch Records. 



20 HISTORY Ol- PENNSYLVANIA, 

and curious, as exhibiting tlie various streams which empty 
into the Delaware, with their Indian names. A descriptive 
memoir, highly interesting, accompanied this map.* 

The possession of the Delaware, by the Swedes and Dutch, 
was for some years in common. In addition to the forts at 
Nassau and Lewistown (Hoarkills), the latter in 1651, built 
fort Kasimer at Sandhocken, the present site of Newcastle.! 
This approximation was too great for the temper of the 
Swedes. Printz remonstrated, and Risingh demanded that the 
fort should be delivered up; but receiving a refusal, resolved 
to obtain it by force or stratagem. He approached the for- 
tress, and, after firing two complimentary salutes, landed with 
thirty men, who were received by the commandant as friends; 
but, discovering the weakness of the garrison, they imme- 
diately mastered it, seized on all the effects of the West India 
company, and compelled several of the vanquished to swear 
allegiance to the queen Christina. Open war having been 
thus made, without the formality of a declaration, Stuyve- 
sant, then governor of New York, although busily engaged 
with his troublesome neighbours of Connecticut, resolved 
on direful vengeance. J 

On the 9th September, 1654, the Dutch governor, com- 
manding an overwhelming force, appeared in the Delaware. 
On the 16th, he anchored before fort Casimer, landed his 
troops, and demanded the surrender of the place. Sven Scutz, 
or Schute, the commandant, asked leave to consult his chief, 
Risingh; but this being refused, the fort was surrendered on 
articles of capitulation. Its whole strength consisted of four 
cannon, fourteen pounders, five swivels, and a parcel of small 
arms, all of which were retained by the conquered. The 
stronger fortress of Christina was held by governor Risingh 
in person; but even he dared not resist the invincible Stuyve- 
sant. On the 25th of the same month, this earliest monu- 
ment of Swedish enterprise in America, submitted to a strange 
master, and with it fell the whole Swedish colony. The 

• MSS. I/ibrary of Am. Phil. Soc. f Campanlus. Acrellus. 

Smith's New York. t These wars have been worthily chronicled by 

the erudite and facetious Knickerbocker. 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 21 

fort and palace and church at Tennekong also became the 
prize of the conquerors, and were either prostrated in sacri- 
fice to the angry Stuyvesant, or have fallen under the tooth 
of time. The latter is the most probable, since the courage of 
the renowned Dutch captain was not sullied by barbarism.* 

The country having been thus subdued, Stuyvesant issued 
a proclamation favourable to those vvho chose to remain under 
his government. About twenty Swedes swore fealty to the 
" States General, the lords directors of the West India com- 
pany, their subalterns of the province of New Netherlands, 
and the director general then or thereafter to be established." 
Risingh and one Eifwyth, a trader of note, were ordered to 
France or England, and from thence to Gottenburg.t Among 
those that remained in New Sweden, was the wife of Pape- 
goia. To her the island of Tennekong descended, and was 
by her subsequently sold to captain Carr, the English go- 
vernor, from whom the purchase money, three thousand 
guilders, was recovered by an execution from the council at 
New York.J In March, 1656, the Swedish resident at the 
Hague remonstrated against the conduct of the West India 
company, but the United Provinces never gave redress. 

During the possession of the Swedes, several vessels ar- 
rived from Sweden, bringing adventurers, who devoted them- 
selves to agriculture. The last ship thus freighted, through 
the unskilfulness of her officers, entered the Raritan river, 
instead of the Delaware, and was seized by Stuyvesant, then 
about to prepare for his campaign against Risingh. Many 
improvements were made by this industrious and temperate 
people, from Henlopen to the falls of Mumningh or Sanki- 
kans. Beside the places we have already named, the founda- 
tion of Upland, the pieSent Chester, was laid at Mocojionaca; 
Korshobn fort, commanded by Sven Soner, was built in 
Passaiung. Manaiung fort was placed at the mouth of 
Schuylkill river, known to the natives by the names of Af«- 
naiung, Alanaijunk, Manajaske^ Nitabacoiig, or Matina- 



* Smith's New York. Acrelius. | Smith's New York. \ N. Y, 

Records. 



22 HISTORT or PENNSYLVANIA' 

cong; by the Dutch, Schuylkill; and by the Swedes, Skiar- 
kilen and Landskilen. Then also were marked the sites of 
Nya Wasa and Gripsholm, somewhere in the neighbourhood 
of the confluence of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers; 
Straws Wijk, and Nieu Caustland, or Clause Land, (the 
present New Castle;) and forts were erected at Kinsessing, 
fVicacou, (Southwarkj) Finlandt, Meulendael, and Lapa- 
nanel. On the eastern shore, also, the Swedes had settle- 
ments at Swedesborough and other places. Most of these are 
marked on the maps of Campanius and Lindstrom, and were 
probably little more than dwellings of farmers, with such 
slight defences as might protect them from a sudden incur- 
sion of the natives.* Among the discoveries of metallic 
riches which rewarded the labours of the Swedes, we are in- 
formed of silver and gold mines. The former are also noticed 
by Master Evelyn in his description of the country, reported 
by Plantagenet in his Memoir on New Albion, but they did 
not remunerate those who endeavoured to work them.t(l) 

After its recovery from the Swedes, the Dutch governed 
the country on South river by lieutenants, subject to the di- 
rector-general at New Amsterdam. Johannes Paul Jacquet 
was the first vice-director. Ilis successors were Peter Alricks, 
Hinojossa, and William Beekman. They were empowered 
to grant lands, and their patents make part of the ancient 
titles of the present possessors. Alricks' commission of the 
12th April, 1657, shows the extent of the Dutch claim on 
the west side of the Delaware. He was appointed " director- 
general of the colony of the South river of New Nether- 
lands, and the fortress of Casimer, now called Niewer Amstel, 
with all the lands depending thereon, according to the first 
purchase and deed of release of the natives, dated July the 
19th, 1651, beginning at the west side of the Minquas, or 
Christina kiln, in the Indian language named Susptcoiigh, 
to the mouth of the bay or river called Boompt hook, in the 
Indian language Cannaress; and so far inland as the bounds 
and limits of the Minqua's land, with all the streams and 

• Campanius. Acrelius. Lindstrom MS. ' f Lindstrom. See 1 

Proud, Smith's New Jersey. (1) See Note D, Appendix. 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 23 

appurtenances and dependencies." Of the country north- 
ward of the Kill, or southward of Boompt Hook, or Can- 
naress, no notice is taken. In 1658, Beckman was directed 
to purchase cape Henlopen from the natives, which, for want 
of goods, was not etlected until the succeeding year.* From 
the orders and the purchase of 1G51, it would seem that no 
reliance was placed on the purchases made of the Indians by 
Goody n in 1629, and by the Swedish governors Minuit, 
Printz, and Risingh. 

In 1642, as we have seen, the Dutch expelled the English 
from the Schuylkill, as intruders on rights too notorious to be 
disputed; but during the present year, the Mary landers de- 
manded possession of the shores of the Delaware, by virtue 
of the patent from the English crown to lord Baltimore. 
Colonel Nathaniel Utie, commissioner from Fendal, governor 
of Maryland, visited Niewer Amstel, to protest against the 
occupation by the Dutch of the western shores of the Dela- 
ware bay, threatening to assert lord Baltimore's right by 
force, but ofl'ering also to receive the settlers under his juris- 
diction, upon the terms granted to other emigrants. Beek- 
man proposed to refer the controversy to the decision of the 
republics of England and Holland; and Stuyvesant, by his 
commissioners despatched to Annapolis, made the like pro- 
position, asserting the title of the East India company, arising 
from prior occupancy and the assent of the English govern- 
ment, protesting against the conduct of Fendal, as a breach 
of the treaties between the Dutch and English nations. In 
the following year, Baltimore applied through his agent, cap- 
tain Neale, to the Dutch West India company, for orders to 
their colonists on the Delaware to submit to his authority. 
A peremptory refusal was instantly given, and a petty war in 
the colonies was prevented by the weakness of Maryland, 
and the hopes of redress, from measures then contemplated 
by the English nation against all the Dutch possessions in 
North America, t 

• Smith's New York. The deed for this purcliase is now in the posses- 
sion of the state of Delaware. f N. Y. Records. N. Y. Hist. Col. 
vol. iii. 368. Smith's New York. 



24 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

From a pamphlet published in 1648,* it would appear that 
a grant had been made by James I., to sir Edward Ploeyden, 
of the greater part of the country between Maryland and 
New England, which was erected into a province and county 
palatine. The boundaries of this extensive palatinate are 
asserted to be, in the language of the writer, "one thousand 
miles compass of this most temperate rich [)rovince: for our 
south bound is Maryland's north bound — and beginning at 
Aquats, or the southernmost or first cape of Delaware bay, 
in thirty-eight degrees forty minutes, and so runneth by or 
through or including Kent isle, through Chesapeake bay to 
Piscataway, including the falls of Potomac river, to the head 
or northernmost branch of that river, being above three hun- 
dred miles due west, and thence northward to the +icad of 
the Hudson river to the ocean sixty leagues, and thence to 
the ocean and isles, across Delaware bay to the south cape 
fifty leagues; in all seven hundred and eighty miles. Then 
all Hudson's river isles, Long isle or Pamunke, and all isles 
within ten leagues of the said province being." These limits, 
if not very precise, are certainly comprehensive. The rights 
derived from this patent seem to have slept, during the reigns 
of James and the first Charles, but were awakened amid the 
revolution. Before 164S a company was formed, under sir 
Edmund Ploeyden, for planting this province, in aid of which 
our author wrote his description of New x\lbion. This little 
work contains a comparison between New Albion and other 
countries of the new world, giving all preference to the for- 
mer, and a learned exposition and defence of the rights of an 
earl palatine, who, among other royalties, having power to 



• This pamphlet is addressed by Bcauchamp rh\iUagenet " To the right 
honourable and mighty lord Edmund, by Divine Providence lord proprietor, 
earl palatine, governor and captain-general of the province of New Albion, 
and to the right honourable, the lord viscount Monson of Castlemain, the 
lord Sherard, baron of Lcitrim, and to all other the viscounts, barons, baro- 
nets, knights, and gentlemen, merchants, adventurers, and planters, of the 
hopeful company of New Albion, in all forty-four undertakers and sub- 
scribers, bound by indenture to bring and settle three thouaaad able trained 
men in out sevttal plantations to the said province." 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 25 

create barons, baronets, and knights of his palatinate, had be- 
stowed a baronage upon our author and others, as well as upon 
each of his own children. Thus there were the son and heir ap- 
parent and governor, Francis lord Ploeyden, baron of Mount 
Royal, an extensive manor on Elk river, and Thomas lord 
Ploeyden, high admiral, baron of Roymount, a manor on the 
Delaware bay, in the vicinity of Lewistown; and the lady 
Winifred, baroness of Uvedale in Websneck, deriving its 
name from its abundance of grapes, producing the Thoulouse, 
Muscat, and others. 

From circumstances, it is probable that this New Albion 
company sent out agents, who visited different portions 
of the province, and that some of them established them- 
selves there; that the Palatine himself and some of his friends, 
with whom was Plantagenet, sought temporary cover from 
the storms of civil war in England, amid the American 
wilds; that a fort named Eriwomec was erected at a stream 
called Pensouken, next below Rancocas, on the Jersey shore, 
and that a considerable settlement was made at JVatcessi, or 
Oijtsessing, at or near the present site of Salem.* These 
settlements were probably broken up by the united force of 
the Dutch and Swedes. No vestige of them now remains, 
and all the knowledge we possess in relation to them is con- 
jectural. t(l) 

Trumbull, in his history of Connecticut, informs us " that 
in 1640 some persons at New Haven, by captain Nathaniel 
Turner, their agent, purchased for thirty pounds sterling a 
large tract of land, for a number of plantations, on both sides 
of Delaware bay or river, with a view to trade, and for the 
settlement of churches in gospel order and purity: that the 
colony of New Haven erected trading houses upon the lands, 
and sent nearly fifty families to make settlements upon them; 

* New Albion. Barker's Address. f Smith's History of New Jer- 

sey. Bescryvinge van Virginie, Nieu Nederlandt, &.c. Pennsylvania Regis- 
ter, 1828, vol. iv. 

(1) See Appendix, Note E, for a further account of New Albion. The 
curious reader will find the work of Plantagenet in the Philadelphia Li- 
brary, Kg. 1019, octavo. 
4 



26 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

and that settlements were made under the jurisdiction of New 
Haven, and in close combination with that colony, in all their 
fundamental articles," 

This account, like many others relating to the Connecticut 
claims on the Delaware, is to be received with great caution. 
It is highly improbable, that fifty families from New Haven 
were, at this time, seated upon that river. We gather, 
however, from the complaints of. the Connecticut traders, 
that they visited the Delaware for the purposes of trade, and 
that they weie expelled by the Swedes and Dutch, under 
Kieft, in 1642; their trading house (if any they had) destroyed, 
their goods confiscated, and their persons imprisoned. The 
commissioners of the united colonies, upon an investigation 
of the facts, directed governor Winlhrop to remonstrate with 
the Swedish governor, and to claim indemnity for the losses 
sustained, amounting (damages for imprisonment included, 
we presume,) to one thousand j)0unds.* Winthrop addressed 
letters to Kieft and Printz, but received no satisfactory an- 
swer. At an extraordinary meeting of the commissioners in 
1649, the general court of New Haven proposed for con- 
sideration, the propriety of speedily planting the Delaware 
bay. But the commissioners, deeming it imprudent by any 
public act to encourage tlie settlement of lands alleged to 
have been purchased there, refused to countenance any at- 
tempt for tliat purpose; but declared that the New Haven 
merchants might ini|)rove or sell the land they had pur- 
chased as the}' should see cause.t The conduct of the Dutch 
to these merchants, formed a part of the grievances submit- 
ted to the delegates from Stuyvesant and the united colo- 
nies, in September, 1G50, when the New England colonies 
claimed a right to tlie Delaware, under their patents, and by 
jjurchases from the Indians; the price of the latter we have 
already stated. These delegates, for want of sufficient light, 
concluded to leave both parties at liberty to improve their 
interests on that river. 



• Trumbull's Connecticut. Proceedings N. E. Commissioners, 1643. 
f Trumb. Con. vol. i. Kecord ot the United Colonies. 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 2T 

Encouraged by this declaration, the inhabitants of New 

Haven and its vicinity fitted out, in the following year, a 

vessel with fifty adventurers, designed to make settlements 

on the Delaware, This vessel stopped at New York, and, 

the object of her voyage being communicated to governor 

Sluyvesant, he arrested and confined a part of the crew, and, 

obtaining possession of their commission and other papers, 

refused to re-deliver them, until the adventurers consented 

to return to New Haven. He threatened, that, should he 

discover any of them upon the Delaware, he would send 

them prisoners to Holland, and that he would resist their 

< 

encroachments in that quarter even to bloodshed. 

But the colony of New Haven was not disposed to aban- 
don her pretensions under these threats. She brought the 
subject again before the commissioners of the united colonies, 
in 1654, and obtained from them a letter to the Dutch go- 
vernor, In which the rights alleged by the Dutch and Swedes, 
are very summarily disposed of, " as their own mistake, or 
at least the error of them that informed them," whilst the 
rights of the people of New Haven appeared '* so clear, that 
they could not but assert their just title to their lands, and 
desire that they might peaceably enjoy the same." This 
letter produced no other effect than others which had been 
previously written. The colony of New Haven submitted 
very impatiently to these obstacles, and would have removed 
them by force of arms, had her sister colonies been disposed 
to involve themselves in hostilities. She applied, in 1651, to 
the Plymouth colony for aid against such as should oppose 
her in settling a plantation upon the Delaware, but the Ply- 
mouth people shortly replied, that "they did not think it 
meet to answer their desire in that behalf, and that they 
would have no hand in any such controversy." Deprived 
of all hopes of effectual assistance from their neighbours, the 
traders of New Haven were compelled to remain at peace. The 
coimtry was soon after granted to the duke of York, and 
their pretensions were too feebly sustained by justice, to al- 
low them to be arrayed against the duke's title. Hence, for 



SS HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

near a hundred years, no claim to lands in Pennsylvania was 
made by Connecticut. 

The governor of New Netherlands had always found the 
New England colonists troublesome neighbours. Their en- 
croachments had given him much uneasiness. In the year 
1753, they formed the design of driving the Hollanders from 
the continent, and applied to Oliver Cromwell for assistance. 
Although favourably disposed to this measure, the protector, 
perhaps deterred by more important objects, did not make 
any efforts to accomplish it. After his death, his son Richard 
instructed his naval commanders and the colonial govern- 
ments to make the attempt; but the subversion of his ephe- 
meral power prevented the execution of his orders. Charles 
II., however, influenced by his enmity to the States General, 
entered readily into the views of his trans-atlantic subjects. 
He granted to James, duke of York, the territory possessed 
by the Dutcii,* and soon after, colonel Richard Nichols, as- 
sociated with George Cartwright, sir Robert Carr, and Samuel 
Maverick, with three ships, having one hundred and thirty 
guns and six hundred men, aided by forces from Massachu- 
setts and Connecticut, summoned Stuyvesant to surrender 
New Amsterdam and his whole province. (1) 

This formidable force, and the favourable terms offered to 
the inhabitants, disposed them to capitulate, notwithstanding 
the efforts of the governor to excite resistance. After a few 
days of fruitless negotiation, during which Stuyvesant pleaded 
in vain the justice of the title of the States General, and the 
peace existing between them and the English nation, a ca- 
pitulation was signed,! and, immediately afterwards, a force 
was despatched to reduce fort Orange. In honour of the duke 
of York, the city of New Amsterdam received the name of 
New York, and fort Orange that of Albany. Tlie greater 
part of the inhabitants submitted cheerfully to the new go- 
vernment, and governor Stuyvesant retained his property, 
and closed his life in New York. 



* 20th March, 1664. (1) See Appendix, for the boundary of country 
granted to the duke of York. f 27th August. 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 29 

Sir Robert Carr, with two frigates, and the troops not re- 
quired at New York, was sent to compel the submission of 
the inhabitants on the Delaware, which he effected with the 
expenditure of two barrels of powder and twenty shot.* By 
articles of agreement, signed Garrett Saunders, Vautiell, 
Hans Block, Lucas Petterson, and Henry Cousturier, it was 
stipulated, that "the burgesses and planters submitting them- 
selves to his majesty, should be protected in their persons 
and estates; that the present magistrates should continue in 
their offices; that permission to depart the country should 
be given within six months to any one desirous thereof; that 
all people should enjoy liberty of conscience in church dis- 
cipline as formerly; and that any person taking the oath of 
allegiance, should become a free denizen, and enjoy all the 
privileges of trading into any of his majesty's dominions, as 
freely as any Englishman." 

The whole country having been thus conquered without 
bloodshed, colonel Nichols, by virtue of a commission from 
the duke, assumed the government at New York. In the 
latter end of October,! he was commissioned by his associates, 
Cartwright and Maverick, to repair to Delaware bay, to esta- 
blish the government there, by deputing such officers and 
taking such measures as he might deem necessary. It does 
not appear, however, that he made the visit; and the affairs 
of the Delaware settlements were conducted by the ancient 
magistrates, under the supervision of captain John Carr, until 
the year 1 768 ; during which, Carr's authority was recognised, 
and a council was appointed by him, consisting of Hans Block, 
Izrael Holme, Peter Rambo, Peter Cock, and Peter Aldrick, 
with instructions, that in all matters of difficulty and import- 
ance, they should have recourse, by way of appeal, to the go- 
vernor and council of New York. 

The capture of New York and its dependencies led to an 
European war between Great Britain and Holland, ending 
in the treaty of Breda, at which the right of the former to 

* MS. copy of New York Kecords, in secretary's ofRce at Harrisburg. 
1st of October. -j- Oct. 24. 



30 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

their newly acquired territories' in America was acknow- 
ledged.* 

Colonel Nichols governed the province for nearly three 
years with justice and good sense. Resettled the bounda- 
ries with the Connecticut colony, which, yielding all claim 
to Long Island, obtained great advantages on the main, push- 
ing its- line to Marmaroneck river, about thirty miles from 
New York: he prescribed the mode of purchasing lands from 
the Indians, making the consent of the governor requisite to 
the validity of all contracts with them for the soil, and di- 
recting such contracts to be entered in the public registry: 
he incorporated the city of New York, under a mayor, five 
aldermen, and a sheriff:! and, although he reserved to him- 
self all judicial authority, his administration was so wise and 
impartial, that it enforced universal praise. 

Colonel Francis Lovelace succeeded colonel Nichols, in 
May, 1667. By proclamation, he required that all patents 
granted by the Dutch, for lands upon the Delaware, should 
be renewed, and that persons holding lands, without patent, 
should take out titles under the English authority. Power 
was given to the officers on the Delaware to grant lands, 
and the commission of surveyor-general, of all the lands under 
the government of the duke of York, on the west side of the 
Delaware, was issued to Walter Wharton. Governor Love- 
lace also renewed the duty of ten per cent, imposed on goods 
imported by the Delaware, which had been established by 
the Dutch, and repealed by his predecessor; but it was found 
so oppressive, that he also was compelled to revoke the order 
by which it was established. 

A feeble attempt at rebellion against the English govern- 
ment, was made by a Swedish adventurer, called the Long 
Finne, whose name was Marcus Jacobson, but who assum- 
ing to be the son of Koningsmarke, a distinguished Swedish 
general, traversed the country, uttering seditious speeches, 
and exciting the people to insurrection. We are uninformed 
of the true nature of this man's character and designs. It is 

• July 10, 1667. t June 12, 1565. 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 31 

probable that he proposed, by the aid of the Indians, to over- 
throw the Enghsh power on the Delaware, and to re-establish 
that of his own countrymen. He succeeded in seducing 
many from their allegiance, among whom were men of con- 
sideration and property. Henry Coleman, a Finne, who 
became his chief follower, was well versed in the English 
and Indian tongues, and "deserted his home, his cattle, and 
corn," to promote the enterprise; and, from a letter of governor 
Lovelace, we are informed that a Domine, or clergyman, was 
also concerned with the Long Finne. The governor issued 
a proclamation, commanding the arrest of Long Finne, Cole- 
man, and their associates; but, as they kept much with the 
Indians, their capture was difficult. At length the former 
was apprehended, tried, and convicted, by a commission sent 
from New York, and sentenced to death. But the council at 
New York changed his sentence, and doomed him to be se- 
verely whipped, branded with the letter R upon his breast, 
imprisoned for one year, and to be transported to Barbadoes, 
and sold as a slave for four years.* His principal associates 
were required to give security for their future good conduct, and 
to pay the value of lialf their goods and chattels to the king; 
others of less note were fined in small sums, at the discretion 
of the commissioners. 

Some assassinations of the whites by the Indians, particu- 
larly of some servants belonging to William Tomm, an Eng- 
lishman, who had the confidence, and was frequently employed 
by the governor, induced the latter to give directions for re- 
pairing the forts and putting the people into a state to sustain 
an Indian war. The murderers were soon afterwards disco- 
vered, but the measures of the governor not being yet suffi- 
ciently matured, he did not venture to prosecute them to 
extremity. The Indians ascribed these and other outrages to 
the use of ardent spirits? and earnestly desired that the sale 
of strong liquors to them might be entirely prohibited. But 
it does not appear that the whites were willing to purchase 
freedom from those disorders, at the sacrifice of their profits 

* MS. documents. Smith's New Jersey. Proud. 



32 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

on the sale of rum, and soon after, they were alarmed by ad- 
ditional murders. Two Dutchmen, resident on the island of 
Matiniconk,* were killed by two Indians, belonging to a 
tribe of the Maquas, consisting of fifty or sixty warriors, on 
the east side of the river, on whom was charged all the mis- 
chief done by the Indians for many years. This last murder 
seems to have been caused by some wild superstition, which 
inflamed an Indian named Tasldowycan. The savage, having 
lost a beloved sister by death, expressed great grief, and de- 
clared, " that the Mannetto having killed his sister^ he 
would go and kill the Christians;^" and taking with him a 
companion, they together committed the barbarous act.t 

These repeated ofi'ences confirmed the resolution of go- 
vernor Lovelace, to chastise the Indians. The murderers 
were demanded, and their surrender promised, but delayed. 
Instructions were given to captain James Carteret, governor 
of New Jersey, to convene an assembly of his people, and 
ascertain their ability and disposition to aid in the war which 
had been resolved on. Orders were sent to William Tomm, 
who was then vested with authority over the higher settle- 
ments on the Delaware, to forecast the best means for con- 
ducting the war, to have the grain and cattle from the frontier 
plantations collected into places of safety, and to withdraw 
the inhabitants into places of defence, and form them into 
militia companies; and, at the same time, to cover his designs 
from the Indians, by the maintainance of friendly appearances 
towards them. The anger of the governor was further ex- 
cited by another murder, committed by this Maquas tribe, 
upon a woman at Paules Hook. A council holdcn at Elizabeth- 
town, however, deemed the season too far advanced for the 
commencement of hostilities; but authorized the magistrates 
to treat with the Susquehanna Indians, and with such others 
as could be induced to coalesce against the murderers. These 
prudential measures were warranted, by the supposition that 



* This island must not be taken for Tenna Kong or Tinnicum. It was 
higher up the river, and I think is that below Bordentown, known as New- 
bold's island. f MS. Documents. 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 33 

tihe tribes near the Delaware, in unity with the Maquas, could 
muster a thousand warriors.* 

But, fortunately for the European inhabitants on the Dela- 
ware, the Indian sachems were induced, by a sense of justice 
or dread of war, to deliver up the known murderers. A part 
of the sachems convened at the house of Mr. Rambo, and 
sent for Tomm and others, and promised within six days to 
bring in the criminals, dead or alive. They accordingly sent 
two Indians to take them, who visited Tashiowycan's wig- 
wam in the night. He asked one of them, who was his par- 
ticular friend, if he intended to kill him ? His friend replied, 
"iVb; but the sachems have ordered you to die. ^^ "What," 
returned Tashiowycan, "say my brothers?" "They also 
say you must die," was the response. "Then," cried he, 
holding his hands before his eyes, "kill me." Upon the 
instant, one of the executioners, not his friend, however, 
shot him through the body with two balls, and completed 
his death by several strokes with the tomahawk on the head. 
His body was taken to Newcastle, where it was hung in 
chains. Roman fortitude and courage may have equalled, 
but not exceeded, the exhibition of this untutored savage. 
Tashiowycan might have escaped all punishment. Wy- 
waanna, the partner of his guilt, had learned the design of 
the sachems, and communicating it to his comrade, urged him 
to fly instantly to the woods. But his spirit could not sub- 
mit to an ignominious flight; and bidding his informer seek his 
own safety, or wait until the next day, he turned to his 
cabin. Wywaanna, who heard the shot which prostrated his 
friend, fled to a distant tribe, whei'e he found concealment 
and protection.! 

The town of Newcastle was this year incorporated. J Its 
officers, a bailiff and six assistants, were empowered to try 
causes not exceeding ten pounds in value. The English laws 
were established in the town and on both sides of the Dela- 
ware. The office of schout was converted into that of sheriff 
for the corporation and river, to be chosen annually: and the 

• MS. documents. Smith's New Jersey. f MS. documents. 

+ May 17. 

5 



,'?4 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

traders were freed from the burdensome duty of entering 
their vessels and goods at New York, as had been hitherto 
the practice, Peter Alricks was chosen first bailiff and prin- 
cipal civil magistrate of the town and settlements on the 
river; and captain Edmund Cantwell was appointed high she- 
riff.* 

The fears of the government of Maryland, lest the title 
of lord Baltimore to the country on Delaware bay should be 
weakened by non-claim, produced occasional irruptions of a 
very hostile character. About this time a party, headed by 
one Jones, made an incursion on Lewistown, where he was 
aided by Daniel Brown, an inhabitant. They seized on the 
persons and property of the magistrates and others, and plun- 
dering the latter, carried off their booty. Brown was soon 
after apprehended and sent to New York, tried and convicted; 
but promising amendment, and giving security for his good 
behaviour, was dismissed. Governor Lovelace remonstrated 
with the governor of Maryland upon this aggression, and 
gave instructions to his deputy to resist future invasions. 
But the Marylanders held possession of the Hoarkill, until 
April of the succeeding year, when, by order of the council 
at New York, the officers and magistrates repossessed them- 
selves of this portion of the duke's territory. 

The subserviency of Charles II. to the French court, and 
his hatred towards Holland, led that monarch to declare war 
against the States General, t for the most frivolous reasons. 
Dutch privateers soon infested the American coasts, and the 
inhabitants of Newcastle and the Hoarkill sustained consi- 
derable losses by their depredations. To repair these, they 
were permitted by the government to impose, for one year, 
a duty of four guilders on each anchor of strong liquors im- 
ported, payable in wampum. Wampum was the chief cur- 
rency of the country, of which it was now drained by the 
Indians. To increase its value, the governor and council of 
New York issued a proclamation in 1673, commanding that 
" instead of eight white and four black, six white and three 

• MS. documents. f ^''•^'^ March. 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 35 

black should pass for a stiver; and three times so much the 

value in silver.*" (1) 

On the 30th July a squadron of ships, under the command 
of Cornelius Evertse and Jacob Benke, recaptured New 
York, without opposition. This easy victory was ascribed 
to the treachery of captain John Manning, who commanded 
the fort at the Narrows. He was afterwards tried on this and 
other charges, and his sentence is a curiosity in military ju- 
risprudence. The court martial declared " that though he 
deserved death, yet, because he had, since the surrender, been 
in England, and had seen the king and duke of York, it was 
adjudged that his sword be broken over his head in pubhc, 
before the city hall, and himself rendered incapable of wear- 
ing a sword and of serving his majesty for the future, in any 
public trust in the government."! 

Measures were immediately taken to establish the autho- 
rity of the Dutch over the whole province, by summoning 
the magistrates from all parts to swear allegiance to the States 
General. Alricks, chief bailiff of Newcastle obeyed this sum- 
mons with such alacrity, and displayed so much devotion to the 
Dutch interest, as to give deep offence to the English, which 
was remembered when they again acquired possession of the 
colony. Captain Anthony Colve was appointed governor by 
the commodores of the squadron, and continued to exer- 
cise that office, until the country was restored to the English, 
by the treaty of Westminster.j 

On the 29th June the duke of York obtained a new patent 
from the king, for the lands granted him in 1664, and two 
days afterwards appointed major, afterwards sir Edmund, 
Andross governor of his territories in America, which were 
surrendered to him by the Dutch upon the 31st of Octo- 
ber following. Andross authorized captain Edmund Cant- 
well and William Tomm to possess themselves of the fort 
and stores at Newcastle for the king's use, and take proper 
measures to establish order and tranquillity on the Delaware. 

* MS. documents. Smith's New Jersey. (1) For an account of 

wampum, see Note F, Appendix. t S^'tli's New York. t 1674, 

9th Februaiy. 



36 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

The magistrates in office, with the exception of Alricks, were 
continued; and, subsequently, Cantwell was re-appointed she- 
riff, and Tomm made secretary, and clothed with the chief 
powers of government. 

During the last possession of the Dutch, the western shore 
of the Delaware was divided into three judicatories: one at 
Upland, now Chester, having jurisdiction of the " country 
up the river Delaware," and entitled the "jurisdiction of De- 
laware river and its dependencies;" another at Newcastle, 
and the third at Hoarkill. (1) These judicatories were main- 
tained by Andross, who appointed commissaries to preside 
in them respectively. From these courts an appeal lay to 
the council in New York, composed of the governor, mayor, 
and aldermen of New York, and of magistrates from Albany, 
Esopus, Long Island, New Jersey, Pemaquid, and Delaware; 
and it would seem that execution, in cases of large amount, 
was not granted, except on the order of that body; since we 
find that a warrant of appraisement was issued by the coun- 
cil, and subsequently an execution, for delivery of the island 
of Tennakong, the property of Andrew Carr, to Jenffro Ar- 
migat Prince, alias Pappegoia, who had obtained judgment 
against him for three thousand guilders. 

The intercourse between the whites and Indians was at- 
tended with occasional violence on both sides. A Doctor J. 
Rhoades and his servant man fell victims to the intemperance 
of the savages, and several other murders occasioned so great 
an alarm, that Cantwell and other officers urged governor An- 
dross to retaliatory and defensive measures. A new treaty with 
the several Indian tribes, accompanied with presents, which 
were returned in new promises of amity, served to remove 
the fears of the settlers. The conduct of Andross towards 
the Indians was prudent and just. An Indian having been 
beaten by a white, in consequence of which he died, the go- 
vernor earnestly recommended to Cantwell to prosecute the 
offender. And whatever new acquisition of lands were 
made, were fairly purchased, at prices satisfactory to the 

(1) For the names of the justices, SiC. see Note G, Appendix. 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 37 

vendors. Thus on the 28th of September, of the present 
year,* a tract of land, "beginning at a certain creek next 
to the cold spring, somewhat above Martinicom island, 
about eight or nine miles below the falls, and as far above 
the falls as the other is below them, or further that way 
as may be agreed upon, to some remarkable place, for the 
more certain bounds, with all the islands in Delaware river 
within the aforementioned limits, both above and below 
the falls, excepting only one island, known by the name of 
Peter Alrick's island," was purchased by Andross, on behalf 
of the duke of York; (1) and, in 1678, he directed Cantwell 
and a certain E. Herman, to purchase the land then unbought, 
between the above tract and that which had been purchased 
below; so that the right of the duke to the whole west shore 
of the Delaware, settled by Europeans, was justly obtained. 
During the administration of sir Edmund Andross, from 
1674 to 1681-2, the English laws were generally adopted, 
except so far as they were altered by a colonial code, pre- 
pared from instructions of the duke, and printed and pub- 
lished for the use of New York and its dependencies. Beside 
the ofiicers we have already mentioned, a military com- 
mander, appointed by the governor, held the first rank in 
the country on the Delaware; and though the civil power 
appears to have been chiefly exercised by the bailiff", alder- 
men, and other magistrates, yet the military commander had 
the general supervision of the territory. This office was suc- 
cessively holden by William Tomm, John CoUyer, and Chris- 
topher Billop. The land office was continued under the care of 
Walter Wharton, surveyor-general, and several tracts of land, 
on both sides of the river, were surveyed for settlers from 
England, One order from Andross, to Philip Pococke, de- 

• 1675. 

(1) The following formed the consideration for this purchase, viz., sixty 
fathom wampum, six duffle coats, six blankets, six coats of dengam, six 
shirts, half anchor of powder, six guns, six shovels, thirty axes, fifty knives, 
two anchors of rum, fifty looking-glasses, fifty hoes, twenty pair of stockings, 
ten pair of shoes, one hundred tobacco pipes, one pound of paint, one hun- 
dred awls, and one hundred Jews-harps. 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



puty surveyor, directed him "to lay out lands on the west 
side of Delaware, below the falls, for such settlers, propor- 
tionably to the hands they have, from the river into the woods, 
a mile or more, as is practised on the river and in Mary- 
land." The landholders were required, by proclamation, to 
make returns to the clerks of the courts of their respective 
jurisdictions, of the quantity, quality, and situation of their 
lands, that patents might issue, for such as had not been pa- 
tented. 

On the 24th June, 1664, the duke of York granted to John, 
lord Berkeley, and sir George Carteret, the province of New 
Jersey, bounded on the east by the Atlantic ocean and Hud- 
son river, on the south by the ocean, on the west by Dela- 
ware bay and river, and on the north by a line drawn from 
the Delaware river at forty-one degrees forty minutes to 
the Hudson river in forty-one degrees northern latitude. 
The proprietaries established a wise and liberal system for 
the government of their country. They declared the most 
unlimited religious toleration; placed the legislative power 
in a governor and council, and in an assembly elected annually 
by the people, convening and adjourning at its pleasure. 
All laws enacted by the general assembly were to remain in 
force for one year, unless disapproved by the proprietaries; 
during which time they were to be submitted for their sanc- 
tion, and, if approved, they continued during the term for 
which they were enacted, unless repealed. To the governor 
and council was confided the execution of the laws; the ap- 
pointment of all officers, subject to be removed at pleasure; 
the command of the military, enrolling freeholders only, un- 
less otherwise directed by law; and the power to reprieve 
criminals, until the will of the proprietors should be known. 

A country containing many rich tracts of lands, with a 
free and liberal constitution, invited inhabitants. Bergen, a 
town on the eastern coast, founded about 1620, soon became a 
thriving settlement. To this were added, in a few years, the 
towns of Elizabeth, Newark, Middletown, and Shrewsbury; 
around each of which many reputable families, English and 
Scotch, from Britain, Long Island, and the adjoining colonies, 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 39 

soon collected. Philip Carteret, brother of sir George, 
was appointed governor, who, conducting his administration 
according to the principles of the constitution, gave full scope 
to the efforts of the people for the attainment of happiness. 
He cultivated friendly relations with the natives, and pur- 
chased their title to the soil for the proprietaries, charging 
the price proportionately upon the sub-purchasers. 

Lord Berkeley, in 1675, sold his undivided moiety of the 
province to John Fenwicke, in trust for Edward Byllinge. 
Fenwicke and Byllinge were both members of the society of 
Quakers. Fenwicke sailed at the close of the year, with his 
family, companions, and servants, for the bay of Delaware. 
He landed and settled at a fertile and pleasant spot, situated 
at a short distance from the river, on Oijtsessing or Hog 
creek, to which he gave the name of Salem. 

The assumption of proprietary rights in New Jersey, by 
Fenwicke, gave great umbrage to governor Andross, who for- 
bade his reception in the character of a proprietor,* and di- 
rected that he should be treated with civility, and permitted 
to take up land on the west side of the river, but that no 
intercourse should be allowed him with the eastern shore. 
These orders were not obeyed, since Fenwicke was suffered 
to proceed unmolested in his plantations, until December of 
the following year, when he was arrested and carried to New 
York, under the charge of falsely assuming to be a proprie- 
tor, and of selling lands in that character. He was subjected 
to a temporary confinement, but soon returned to his settle- 
ment, where he continued his operations, but was again, by 
the threats of Andross, compelled to visit New York, and 
vindicate his title. 

Byllinge being involved in pecuniary embarrassments, con- 
veyed his interest in the province to William Penn, Gawen 
Lawrie,and Nicholas Lucas, in trust for his creditors. The 
trustees sold proprietary rights to several other persons, and 
having made, with sir George Carteret, a division of the pro- 
vince, proceeded to frame a constitution for their moiety, 

• December, 1675. MS, documents. 



40 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

under the title of " Concessions and agreements of the pro- 
prietors and freeholders of West New Jersey, in America.'^ 

This constitution provided for the appointment of commis- 
sioners to govern the country, until March, 1780, at which 
time, and from thence annually, ten commissioners were to 
be elected, until a general assembly should be chosen. Such 
general assembly was to be elected as soon as the province 
should be divided into districts, and was to be renewed yearly. 
The province to be divided into one hundred proprietaries, 
each proprietary having one representative. The assembly 
were empowered to meet and adjourn at pleasure; to elect 
ten commissioners of state, to administer the government in 
the recess of the assembly; to make laws not inconsistent 
with the constitution, and as similar as circumstances would 
permit to the ancient, primitive and fundamental laws of Eng- 
land; to constitute all courts and the offices connected there- 
with, limiting the tenure of office to one year; to appoint 
all officers, except constables and justices of the peace, who 
were elective by the people. No person was permitted to 
hold two offices at the same time. There was substituted 
for the usual oath of office a curious article, requiring each 
representative to covenant " under his hand and seal to do 
nothing in his legislative capacity but what should tend to 
the fit service and behoof" of his constituents, who were per- 
mitted to institute an inquiry into his conduct before the next 
assembly. Each representative was allowed a shilling a day 
for his services in the assembly, to be paid by the inhabit- 
ants of his district, "that thereby he might be known to be 
the servant of the people." 

The dispensation of justice was confided to a jury of twelve 
men, assisted by three justices or commissioners. The jury 
determined the cause, and the justices declared their decision, 
and if they refused, the jury was authorized to pronounce 
judgment themselves. In all causes, civil and criminal, two 
witnesses were necessary. In criminal cases, not felonious, 
the injured party was authorized to compound the offence be- 
fore, or to remit the penalty after, judgment. Imprison- 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 41 

snent for debt, on surrender of the property of the debtor, 
was prohibited.* 

The faults of this system of government are radical and 
glaring. A many-headed executive necessarily engendered 
jealousy, division, and favouritism, and distracted counsels 
produced contempt and disobedience. The legislature, com- 
posed of one house, was exposed to the evils of precipitation, 
and, choosing from itself the executive, to intrigue and corrup- 
tion. Courts without permanent judges, with juries determin- 
ing the law in all cases, and the fact, disregarded the established 
rules of jurisprudence, and produced uncertainty in the admi- 
nistration of justice. The limited tenure of office rendered 
the incumbents unskilful and rapacious. There were, how- 
ever, some excellent provisions in the constitution. The 
most entire liberty of conscience was established ; the evi- 
dences of property were secured by registering offices; and 
rules for the treatment of the aborigines were framed upon 
principles of justice and humanity. The love of the pro- 
prietors for civil liberty was conspicuous in this instrument; 
and, had they possessed as much knowledge as zeal, they 
would have formed a finished system. Its manifold inconve- 
niences led to the surrender of the government, soon after, 
to the crown. t 

In June, 1677, Thomas Olive, Daniel Wills, John Kinsey, 
John Penford, Joseph Helmsley, Robert Stacey, Benjamin 
Scott, Thomas Foulke, and Richard Guy, commissioners, 
appointed by the proprietaries to superintend their interests 
in the province, arrived at New Castle, with two hundred 
and thirty settlers, principally Quakers. Having explored 
the country for many miles along the shores of the Dela- 
ware, they made allotments of land among the adventurers 
at several miles distance from each other. But fear of the 
natives finally induced the emigrants to settle together, in 
and about a town plot, laid out by the commissioners, first 
called Beverley, then Budlington, and afterwards Burling- 

• Letter from Nicliolas Lucas, one of the proprietors, 1 Proud ,138. 
t 1702. 

6 



42 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

ton.* In the same year two ships arrived, bearing many fami- 
lies of great respectability. The qu iet of the colonists was undis- 
turbed, except by the duty again levied upon their commerce 
at the Hoarkills, by the New York government. This was 
vexatious as a tax, and insulting to the sovereignty of the pro- 
prietaries, who remonstrated for some time in vain, with the 
agents of the duke of York; but finally, after an investigation, 
by commissioners appointed for the purpose, the duty was 
repealed. 

Dispensing with their executive of commissioners, the pro- 
prietaries appointed Edward Byllinge governor, who, soon 
after his arrival in the province, commissioned Samuel Jen- 
nings as his deputy. In November, 1681, Jennings called 
the first assembly, and, in conjunction with them, adopted 
certain articles, defining and circumscribing the power of the 
governor, and enacted such laws as the wants of the colony 
required. 

* By the Indians, Chygoes island, from a chief who dwelt upon it. 



CHAPTER II. 

Of the aborigines' •••their origin and progress from the west 
• •••War with, and conquest of the AUigewi^^^^Division of 
the country between the Lenape and Mengwe nations**^* 
Settlement of the Lenape upon the sea-coast ••••Enmity be- 
tween the Lenape and the Mengwe^ •••Union of the Mengwe 
or five nations* •••their machinations^^ ••Lenape become wo- 
men^ •••Domination of the Mengwe^*^ •Indian population, 
their extensive connexions, their language^^-^Government 
and laws^^^^Habits and customs^^'«Religion^'^'Revenge*»«« 
Hospitality and honesty. 

\Vhen the country on the shores of the Delaware, was 
first trodden by Europeans, it was inhabited by a numerous 
race of Indians, who received the strangers with kindness, 
and gave them, in exchange for their toys, land, furs, and 
food, all which they had to bestow. 

It is now impossible to obtain a cori^ect knowledge of the 
aborigines. Their history, preserved by tradition, is uncer- 
tain and mingled with fable. Yet the little which the indus- 
try of the missionaries, who have occasionally resided among 
them, has preserved, gives great scope for speculative in- 
quiry. 

Although divided into many tribes, the Indians inhabiting 
the vast expanse between Canada and Virginia, traced their 
origin to two sources, the Lenni Lenape and the Mengwe. 
The former, known among their derivative nations also by 
the name of the WapanachJu, corrupted by the Europeans 
into Openaki, Openagi, Menaquis, and Apenakis^ and 
among the whites, by the name of Delawares, held their prin- 
cipal seats upon the Delaware river, and were acknowledged 
by near forty tribes as their " Grandfathers," or parent stock. 
They relate, that many centuries past, their ancestors dwelt 



44 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

far in the western wilds of the American continent, but emi- 
grating eastwardly, arrived after many years on the Namcesi 
Sipu (the Mississippi), or river of fish, where they fell in 
with the Mengwe, who had also emigrated from a distant 
country, and approached this river somewhat nearer its source. 
The spies of the Lenape reported the country on the east of the 
Mississippi to be inhabited by a powerful nation, dwelling in 
large towns, erected upon their principal rivers. 

This people, tall and stout, some of whom, as tradition 
reports, were of gigantic mould, bore the name of Jllligewi, 
and from them were derived the names of the Alleghany 
river and mountains. Their towns were defended by regular 
fortifications or intrenchments of earth, vestiges of which are 
yet shown in greater or less preservation. The Lenape 
requested permission to establish themselves in their vi- 
cinity. This was refused, but leave was given them to 
pass the river, and seek a country farther to the eastward. 
But, whilst the Lenape were crossing the river, the Alligewi, 
becoming alarmed at their number, assailed and destroyed 
many of those who had reached the eastern shore, and threat- 
ened a like fate to the others should they attempt the stream. 
Fired at the loss they had sustained, the Lenape eagerly ac- 
cepted a proposition from the Mengwe, who had hitherto 
been spectators only of their enterprise, to conquer and divide * 
the country. A war of many years duration was waged by 
the united nations, marked by great havoc on both sides, which 
eventuated in the conquest and expulsion of the Alligewi, 
who fled by the way of the Mississippi, never to return. 
Their devastated country was apportioned among the con- 
querors; the Mengwe choosing their residence in the neigh- 
bourhood of the great lakes, and the Lenape possessing 
themselves of the lands to tlic south. 

After many ages, during which the conquerors lived to- 
gether in great harmony, the enterprising hunters of the Le- 
nape crossed the Alleghany' mountains, and discovered the 
great rivers Susquehannah and E>felaware, and their respec- 
tive bays. Exploring the Sheyichbi c^ountry, (New Jersey,) 
they arrived on the Hudson, to which they subsequently gave 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 45 

the name of the Mohicannittuck river. Returning to their 
nation, after a long absence, they reported their discoveries; 
describing the country they had visited as abounding in game 
and fruits, fish and fowl, and destitute of inhabitants. Con- 
cluding this to be the country destined for them by the 
Great Spirit, the Lenape proceeded to establish themselves 
upon the four great rivers, the Hudson, Delaware, Susque- 
hannah and Potomac, making the Delaware, to which they 
gave the name of Lenape-wihittuch, (the river or stream of 
the Lenape,) the centre of their possessions.* 

They say, however, that all of their nation who crossed the 
Mississippi, did not reach this country; a part remaining be- 
hind to assist that portion of their people who, frightened by 
the reception which the Alligewi had given to their country- 
men, fled far to the west of the Namcesi Sipu. They were 
finally divided into three great bodies; the larger, one-half 
of the whole, settled on the Atlantic; the other half was sepa- 
rated into two parts, the stronger continued beyond the Mis- 
sissippi, the other remained on its eastern bank. 

Those on the Atlantic were subdivided into three tribes; 
the Turtle or Unamis^ the Turkey or Unalachtgo, and the 
Wolf or Minsi. The two former inhabited the coast from 
the Hudson to the Potomac, settling in small bodies in towns 
and villages upon the larger streams, under chiefs subordi- 
nate to the great council of the nation. The Minsi, called by 
the English, Monceys, the most warlike of the three tribes, 
dwelt in the interior, forming a barrier between their nation 
and the Mengwe. They extended themselves from the Mi- 
nisink, on the Delaware, where they held their council seat, 
to the Hudson on the east, to the Susquehannah on the south- 
west, to the head waters of the Delaware and Susquehannah 
rivers on the north, and to that range of hills now known in 
New Jersey by the name of the Muskenecun, and by those 
of Lehigh and Coghnewago in Pennsylvania. 

Many subordinate tribes proceeded from these, who re- 
ceived names either from theirplacesofresidence,or from some 

• lleckevvelder's account of the Incruuis. 



46 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

accidental circumstance, at the time of its occurrence remark- 
able, but now forgotten. Such were the Shavvanese, the 
Nanticokes, the Susquehannas, the Shackamaxons, the Ne- 
shamines, the Mantas, and other tribes, resident in or near 
the province of Pennsylvania at the time of its settlement. 

The Mengwe hovered for some time on the borders of the 
lakes, with their canoes in readiness to fly should the Al- 
ligewi return. Having grown bolder, and their numbers 
increasing, they stretched themselves along the St. Lawrence, 
and became, on the north, near neighbours to the Lenape 
tribes. 

The Mengwe and the Lenape, in the progress of time, be- 
came enemies. The latter represent the former as treacherous 
and cruel, pursuing pertinaciously an insidious and destruc- 
tive policy towards their more generous neighbours. Dread- 
ing the power of the Lenape, the Mengwe resolved, by 
involving them in war with their distant tribes, to reduce 
their strength. They committed murders upon the mem- 
bers of one tribe, and induced the injured party to believe 
they were perpetrated by another. They stole into the coun- 
try of the Delawares, surprised them in their hunting par- 
ties, slaughtered the hunters, and escaped with tlie plunder. 

Each nation or tribe had a particular mark upon its war 
clubs, which, left beside a murdered person, denoted the ag- 
gressor. The Mengwe perpetrated a murder in the Cherokee 
country, and left with the dead body a war club bearing the 
insignia of the Lenape. The Cherokees, in revenge, fell 
suddenly upon the latter, and commenced a long and bloody 
war. The treachery of the Mengwe was at length disco- 
vered, and the Delawares turned upon them with the deter- 
mination utterly to extirpate them. They were the more 
strongly induced to take this resolution, as the cannibal pro- 
pensities of the Mengwe had reduced them, in the estimation 
of the Delawares, below the rank of human beings.* 

Hitherto each tribe of the Mengwe had acted Junder the 
directionof its particular chiefs; and, although the nation could 

* The Iroquois or Mengwe sometimes ate the bodies of their prisoners. 
Ufdewelder, 2 N, V. Hist. Col. 55. 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 47- 

not control the conduct of its members, it was made responsi- 
ble for their outrages. Pressed by the Lenape, they resolved 
to form a confederation which might enable them better to 
concentrate their force in war, and to regulate their affairs in 
peace. Thannawage, an aged Mohawk, was the projector of 
this alliance. Under his auspices, five nations, the Mohawks, 
Oneidas, Onondagoes, Cayugas, and Senecas, formed a species 
of republic, governed by the united counsels of their aged and 
experienced chiefs. To these a sixth nation, the Tuscaroras, was 
added in 1712. This last originally dwelt in the western parts 
of North Carolina, but having formed a deep and general con- 
spiracy to exterminate the whites, were driven from their 
country, and adopted by the Iroquois confederacy.* The 
beneficial effects of this system early displayed themselves. 
The Lenape were checked, and the Mengwc, whose warlike 
disposition soon familiarized them with fire arms, procured 
from the Dutch, were enabled, at the same time, to contend with 
them and to resist the French, who now attempted the set- 
tlement of Canada, and to extend their conquests over a large 
portion of the country between the Atlantic and the Missis- 
sippi. 

But, being pressed hard by their new, they became de- 
sirous of reconciliation with their old enemies; and, for this 
purpose, if the tradition of the Delawares be credited, they 
effected one of the most extraordinary strokes of policy 
which history has recorded. 

The mediators between the Indian nations at war are the 
women. The men, however weary of the contest, hold it 
cowardly and disgraceful to seek reconciliation. They deem 
it inconsistent in a warrior to speak of peace with bloody 
weapons in his hands. He must maintain a determined cou- 
rage, and appear at all times as ready and willing to fight as 
at the commencement of hostilities. With such dispositions, 
Indian wars would be interminable, if the women did not 
interfere, and persuade the combatants to bury the hatchet 
and make peace with each other. On these occasions, the 

* Smith's New York. Dougl. Sutrfm. 



48 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

women pleaded their cause with much eloquence. *' Not a 
warrior," they would say, "but laments the loss of a son, a 
brother, or a friend. And mothers, who have > borne with 
cheerfulness the pangs of child-birth, and the anxieties that 
wait upon the infancy and adolescence of their sons, behold 
their promised blessings crushed in the field of battle, or pe- 
rishing at the stake in unutterable torments. In the depth of 
their grief, they curse their wretched existence, and shud- 
der at the idea of bearing children." They conjured the 
warriors, therefore, by their suffering wives, their helpless 
children, their homes, and their friends, to interchange for- 
giveness, to cast away their arms, and, smoking together the 
pipe of amity and peace, to embrace as friends those whom 
they had learned to esteem as enemies. 

Prayers thus urged seldom failed of their desired effect. 
The function of the peace maker was honourable and digni- 
fied, and its assumption by a courageous and powerful nation 
could not be inglorious. This station the Mengwe urged 
upon the Lenape. "They had reflected," they said, "upon 
the state of the Indian race, and were convinced that no 
means remained to preserve it unless some magnanimous na- 
tion would assume the character of the woman. "It could not 
be given to a weak and contemptible tribe; such would not 
be listened to: but the Lenape and their allies would at once 
possess influence and command respect." 

The facts upon which these arguments were founded, were 
known to the Delawarcs, and, in a moment of blind confi- 
dence in the sincerity of the Iroquois, they acceded to the 
proposition, and assumed the petticoat. The ceremony of the 
metamorphosis was performed with great rejoicings at Albany, 
in 1G17, in the presence of the Dutch, whom the Lenape 
charge with having conspired with the Mengwe for their de- 
struction. 

Having thus disarmed the Delawares, the Iroquois assumed 
over them the rights of protection and command. But still 
dreading their strength, they artfully involved them again 
in war with the Cherokces, promised to fight their battles, 
led them into an ambush of tlicir foes, and deserted them. 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 49 

The Delawares, at length, comprehended the treachery ot 
their arch enemy, and resolved to resume their arms, and, 
being still superior in numbers, to crush them. But it was 
too late. The Europeans were now making their way into 
the country in every direction, and gave ample employment 
to the astonished Lenape. 

The Mengwe deny tliese machinations. They aver, that 
they conquered the Delawares by force of arms, and made 
them a subject people. And, though it be said they are un- 
able to detail the circumstances of this conquest, it is more 
rational to suppose it true, than that a brave, numerous, 
and warlike nation should have voluntarily suffered them- 
selves to be disarmed and enslaved by a shallow artifice; or 
that, discovering the fraud practised upon them, ihey should 
unresistingly have submitted to its consequences. This con- 
quest was not an empty acquisition to the Mengwe, They 
claimed dominion over all the lands occupied by the Dela- 
wares, and, in many instances, their claims were distinctly 
acknowledged.* Parties of the Five Nations occasionally 
occupied the Lenape country, and wandered over it at all 
times at their pleasure. 

There is no data upon which a correct estimate may be 
made of the numbers of the Indians inhabiting the present 
state of Pennsylvania, at the time of which we now treat. 
But, when Virginia was discovered, it was supposed to have 
a population of one soul for every square mile. Upon this 
ratio, probably much too great, Pennsylvania must have con- 
tained forty-seven thousand. 

Whatever credit may be due to the traditions of the Lenape, 
relative to their migration from the west, there is strong evi- 
dence in support of their pretensions to be considered as the 
source whence a great portion of the Indians of North America 
was derived. They are acknowledged as the "grandfathers," 
or the parent stock, of the tribes that inhabited the extensive 
regions of Canada, from the coast of Labrador to the mouth of 
the Albany river, which empties into the southernmost part 

* See Note H, Appendix. 



50 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

of Hudson's bay, and from thence to the Lake of the Woods, 
the northernmost boundary of the United States; and also 
by those who dwelt in that immense country, stretching from 
Nova Scotia to the Roanoke, on the sea-coast, and bounded 
by the Mississippi on the west. All these nations spoke dia- 
lects of the Lenape language, affording the strongest pre- 
sumption of their derivation from that stock. The tribes of 
the Mengwe interspersed throughout this vast region are, of 
course, excepted. They were, however, comparatively few 
in number. 

Their language is said to be rich, sonorous, plastic, and 
comprehensive in the highest degree. It varies from the 
European idioms chiefly in the conjugation of the verbs, with 
which not only the agent and patient may be compounded, 
in every possible case, but the adverbs are also blended; and 
one word is made to express the agent, the action, with its 
accidents of time, place, and quantity, and the object effected 
by them. And, though greatly pliant, it is subjected to rules, 
from which there are few exceptions. It has the power of 
expressing every idea, even the most abstract. The Old and 
New Testaments have been translated into it, and the Chris- 
tian missionaries have no difficulty, as they assert, of making 
themselves understood on all subjects by the Indians. 

A cultivated language usually denotes great civilization. 
But our aborigines seem to have confined their efforts to the 
improvement of their speech. This was a consequence na- 
turally flow^ing from their form of government and political 
institutions, in which the most absolute liberty prevailed. 
The public welfare was confided to the aged and experienced 
chiefs, whose resolutions were obeyed in full conviction of 
their wisdom. They have no law but public opinion, and 
the redress of injuries belongs to the injured. Among such 
a people, particularly, eloquence is the handmaid of ambi- 
tion, and all power must depend upon the talent of persua- 
sion. To this cause, we may ascribe the cultivation, and the 
many beauties, which are said to mark the Indian tongues of 
North America. 

In other respects, these tribes had advanced little beyond 



HrSTOllY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 51 

the rudest state of nature. They had no written language, 
unless rude drawings may be thus considered. Their inter- 
course with each other was regulated by a few simple rules 
of justice and courtesy. Their passions generally preserved 
an even and moderate tenor; but, occasionally, becoming in- 
tense, they produced enormous crimes, or deeds of heroism. 
In the commerce of the sexes, love, as a sentiment, was al- 
most unknown. Marriage was a physical convenience, con- 
tinued by the will of the parties, either sex having the power 
to dissolve it at pleasure. The treatment of the women, 
however, if not marked by tenderness, was not cruel. A 
full proportion of labour, it is true, was imposed upon them, 
but it was of that kind which necessarily falls to their lot, 
where the men are absent from their homes in search of sus- 
tenance for their families: it consisted of domestic and agri- 
cultural services. Children were educated with care in the 
knowledge of the duties and emplo3'ments of their future life. 
Their lessons were taught in a kind and familiar manner, their 
attention awakened by the hope of distinction, and their ef- 
forts rewarded by general praise. Threats nor stripes were 
ever used. Lands and agricultural returns were common pro- 
perty; peltries and the other acquisitions of the chase, be- 
longed to individuals. 

Their religion was simple, and, according to the disposi- 
tion of those who regard it, may be considered as evidence 
of their purity and strength of mind, or of the nakedness 
and barrenness of their genius. They believed in a Great 
Spirit, the creator and ruler of all things, who, by subordi- 
nate, dependent, and invisible agents, directed the conduct of 
men; who rewarded the good and punished the evil; and who 
had provided a future state, where the virtuous enjoyed a per- 
petuity of the pleasures which this life had afforded them, 
and of which the wicked are deprived. They worship this 
Great Spirit with prayers, and thanksgiving, and with sacri- 
fices. 

The strongest passion of an Indian's soul is revenge. To 
gratify it, distance, danger, and toil are held as nothing. But 
there is no manliness in his vengeance. He loves to steal 



52 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

upon his enemy, in the silence of the forest, or in his mid- 
night slumbers, and to glut himself, like a ravenous wolf, in 
undistinguished slaughter. In war, not even the captive was 
spared, unless he were adopted to supply the place of a de- 
ceased member of the capturing nation. If not thus preserved, 
he was destined to perish, in protracted torture, under the 
hands of women and children. On the other hand, hospi- 
tality and respect for the property of others, were their dis- 
tinguishing virtues. Strangers were treated with great atten- 
tion and kindness, their wants liberally supplied, and their 
persons considered sacred. To the needy and suffering of 
their own tribes they cheerfully gave; dividing with them 
their last morsel. Theft in their communities was rare, and 
is said to have been almost unknown before their acquaint- 
ance with the whites.* 

• I have adopted Heckewelder and other Moravian missionaries for my 
guides in this account of the Indians. But It will be perceived that I have 
not given to them their favourable colouring. 



CHAPTER IIL 

Claims of the duke of York- •••William Penn^'^«His views in 
purchasing trans-Atlantic territory^^Purchase from the 
crown-"Boundaries'^"Charter'"-Observations on the char- 
ter' ••Declaration of the king' ••Measures of Penn to people 
his province First adventurers^-^^Conduct of the pro- 
prietary towards the Indians^^«^Frame of governments^ -Ter- 
ritories on the Delaware- ••Purchase from the duke of York. 

The claim of the Dutch extended to the river Delaware 
and the adjacent country. But the first grant of Charles II. 
to the duke of York, was bounded by the east side of that 
river only; yet the latter possessed himself of its western 
shores, and claimed, under his charter, all the territory now 
forming the states of Pennsylvania and Delaware. The claim 
to the latter, however, was covered by a second charter, 
granted in 1674. Under the dominion of princes absorbed, 
the one in acquiring and consolidating despotic power, the 
other in converting a nation to a religion it detested, these 
fruitful regions might have continued much longer only to 
yield subsistence to a handful of Europeans, and an inconsi- 
derable number of wild and untaught inhabitants, had not the 
genius and zeal of a private individual, prepared a speedy 
way for the reception of a dense and civilized population. 

William Penn, son and heir of sir William Penn, as one of 
the trustees of Byllinge, had been actively engaged in colo- 
nizing west New Jersey, and subsequently, as a purchaser, 
in the improvement of the eastern division of that province. 
He thus obtained a knowledge of the country on the western 
side of the river Delaware. From this accidental introduc- 
tion to the new world, sprang his design of founding a com- 
monwealth, on principles of perfect equality, and of universal 



54 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

toleration of religious faith.* To establish for the persecuted 
Quakers a secure asylum, to form a people whose morals 
should correspond with the purity of the faith they professed, 
and to demonstrate that the use of arms was unnecessary for 
the protection of civil society, were Penn's favourite objects 
in becoming an American proprietary.! Though an enthu- 
siastic sectary, the propagation of his religious opinions was 
a secondary consideration. He had formed a plan of civil 
government, which he desired to submit to the test of expe- 
rience. He anticipated, perhaps, greater moral and political 
perfection for his colony, than a just estimate of human na- 
ture would warrant; yet he succeeded in laj'ing the founda- 
tions of a state, whose wise institutions and extraordinary pros- 
perity have secured him an honourable and perpetual fame. 

Sir William Penn was justly a favourite with the king and 
the duke of York; more especially with the latter, under 
whom he had greatly distinguished himself, in the naval en- 
gagement with the Dutch, on the third of June, 1664. On 
his death-bed he obtained from the duke his })romise to sup- 
port and protect his son; which the latter redeemed, by the 
assistance he gave to William Penn's American enterprise, 
and by his constant and zealous friendship during life. Under 
such auspices, the future proprietary found no difficulty to 
obtain a grant of a large tract of land in America, in consi- 
deration of a debt of sixteen thousand pounds, due to him in 



* In a letter from Penn to R. Turner, written about the time he obtained 
liis patent, there is the following passage: " This I can say, that I had an 
opening of joy as to these parts in the year 1661, at Oxford, twenty years since; 
and as niy understanding and inclinations have been much directed to ob- 
serve and reprove mischiefs in government, so it is now put into my power 
to settle one. For the matters of liberty and privilege, I purpose that 
which is extraordinary, and leave myself and successors no power of doing 
mischief, that the will of one man may not hinder tlie good of the whole 
country." It would seem, from this quotation, that he had early in life 
some fugitive ideas of a trans-Atlantic settlement. I nevertheless am of 
the opinion, that his views were determined by his New Jersey associations, 
as stated in the text. 

f Oldmixon Am. Emp, Anderson's Origin of Commerce. 1 Clarkson's 
Life of I'cnn. 1 Proud, 5. Letter of Penn. 1 Proud, 169, 



\ 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 55 

/ right of bis father, from the government. Before the patent 
issued, due care was taken that it should not affect the rights 
of the duke, or of lord Baltimore, both of whom were inte- 
rested in territories adjacent to those about to be granted to 
Penn.* The charter bore date March 4th, 1681. The in- 
ducements to the grant were therein declared to be, the me- 
rits of Admiral Penn, the extension of the British empire, 
and the conversion of the savage nations to civilized life and 

■( the Christian religion. The king himself named the pro- 
vince Pennsylvania, against the wishes of the proprietary, 
who desired that it might be called New Wales. t 
^ The following boundaries were given by the charter. « On 
the east by Delaware river, from twelve miles distance north- 
wards of Newcastle town, unto the three and fortieth degree 
of northern latitude, if the said river doth extend so far 
northward, but if the said river shall not extend so far north- 
ward, then by the said river so far as it doth extend; and from 
the head of the said river the eastern bounds are to be de- 
termined by a meridian line, to be drawn from the head of 
ahe said river unto the said forty-third degree. The said 
land to extend westward five degrees in longitude, to be com- 
puted from the eastern bounds; and the said lands to be 
bounded on the north by the three-and-fortieth degree of 
northern latitude, and on the south by a circle drawn at twelve 
miles distance from Newcastle, northward and westward, unto 
the beginning of the fortieth degree of northern latitude, and 
then by a straight line westward to the limits of longitude 
above mentioned." 

The free use of all ports, bays, rivers, and waters of the 
province, and of their produce, and of all mines, and the fee 
of the soil, were granted to William Penn, to be holden in 
soccage tenure, yielding ten beaver skins annually, and one- 
fifth of the gold and silver discovered, to the king. The pro- 
prietor was empowered to enact laws with the assent of the 
freemen of the province; to appoint judges and other officers; 

* Clarkson's Life of Penn. Minutes of Council of Pennsylvania, 
t'^l'irkson. Penn's Letter to K. Turner, 5th March, 1681. Mem. His. 
Soc. Penn. 1 vol. 201. 



56 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1681 

to pardon crimes, murder and treason excepted; to grant re- 
prieves in all cases until the pleasure of the king were known; 
to make ordinances (not affecting the persons or property of in- 
dividuals) in cases requiring a prompt remedy, when the free- 
men could not be conveniently assembled; to divide the pro- 
vince into towns, hundreds, and counties; to incorporate towns, 
boroughs, and cities; to erect manors; to constitute fairs and 
markets, ports and harbours, at which the officers of the king's 
customs were to have free admission; to levy duties on im- 
ports and exports, saving to the king such duties as should 
be laid by act of parliament; to alienate any part of the pro- 
vince, the purchasers to hold by soccage tenure immediately 
of him and not of the king. He was clothed with the pow- 
ers of captain-general, and authorized to levy troops, and to 
make war by sea and land against neighbouring barbarous 
nations, pirates, or robbers. He was required to keep an 
agent in or near London, to answer for any misdemeanor on 
his part, against the laws regulating trade and navigation; 
and, in case of such misdemeanor, if reparation were not 
made within one year, the king might seize and retain the 
government until compensation should be made. He was 
forbidden to hold correspondence with any power at war with 
England, or to make war against any nation in amity with 
her. 

It was provided that the laws of England regulating pro- 
perty, defining crimes, and prescribing punishments, should 
continue in force, until altered by the provincial legislature; 
and that duplicates of the colonial laws should be transmitted 
to the privy council, within five years after their enactment, 
and, if not disapproved within six months after delivery, 
that they should continue in force: that appeals from the de- 
crees of the courts in civil cases might be made to the king 
in council: that English subjects might freely transport them- 
selves to the province; and that the colonists might import 
every species of merchandise from England, and that they 
should confine their exports to England alone. 

The king was restrained from imposing any tax or custom 
on tlie inhabitants, their lands, or goods, unless by the con- 



1681] HISTOUY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 57 

sent of the proprietary, or chief governor, or by the assembly, 
or by act of parlianient in England. 

In case twenty of the inhabitants should desire of the bishop 
of London to send a preacher to reside in the province, he 
^was to be permitted to perform his functions without mo- 
lestation. And, lastly, if any difference should arise, con- 
cerning the meaning of the charter, it was to be construed 
in a manner most favourable to the proprietary. 

The spirit of freedom, which breathes through this charter, 
is at variance with the character of its grantor, and with his 
policy towards the colony of Massachusetts; particularly in 
the independence of regal control permitted to the legislative 
power. The controversies which grew out of the loose and 
indigested charters of the New England provinces, occa- 
sioned, in framing this instrument, a greater care in defining 
the powers conceded, and preserving the supremacy of the 
parent state, than would, in other circumstances, have been 
bestowed upon it. It was originally draughted by Penn, from 
the charter of Maryland, framed by sir George Calvert, secre- 
tary of state to James the first, and was revised by the lord 
chief justice North, and the attorney-general, sir William 
Jones, who added two important clauses. The one saving 
to parliament the power to levy taxeg, and generally to legis- 
late for the country; and the other requiring a copy of the 
colonial laws to be sent to England, for the approbation of the 
privy council; neither of these is found in the Maryland char- 
ter.* 

The estate in the soil, granted to the proprietary, was a 
feudal, not an allodial one. It had the chief incident of the 
feudal system, forfeiture for want of heirs, and for corruption 
of blood; and Pennsylvania might be considered a feudal 
seignory, divested of the burdens of the feudal law, and 
strengthened by such powers of sovereignty, as the distance 
from the court of the paramount lord, and its peculiar cir- 

• Chalmers. A clause in the Maryland charter provides, that the king", 
" his heirs, or successors, shall at no time set and make, or cause to be set, 
any imposition, custom, or taxation on the inhabitants of the province, for 
their lands, goods, tenements, or chattels, within the said province." 
S 



58 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l6SI 

cumstances required. The eighteenth section of the charter 
relieved the proprietor from the trammels of the statute of 
" Quia emptores,'^ which directed that sub-tenants should 
hold of tlie chief lord by the same services as their feoffer; 
and it enabled him to grant estates, subject to such return as 
he judged proper. 

The legislative authority, placed in the hands of the peo- 
ple, enabled them to secure their freedom and to promote 
their happiness; and evinced the progress which had been 
made in political science, since the miserable failures of the 
first Virginia settlements. Yet the reservations, which were 
perhaps indispensable to preserve colonial dependence, con- 
tained germs of oppression which might one day overshadow 
the prosperity of the new colony. Its trade was subject to 
be restrained or sacrificed to the interests of the mother coun- 
try, and the persons and property of the inhabitants were 
placed at the mercy of masters, whose distance from the pro- 
vince and ignorance of provincial affairs, rendered them inca- 
pable to judge of the resources or wants of the colonists. 

The grant was declared to the inhabitants within its boun- 
daries, by the king's proclamation, dated the second of 
April, 1681, commanding them to pay due obedience to the 
proprietary, his heirs, assigns, and agents.* Soon after, Penn 
published an account of his province, with his charter and 
other documents connected with it, and invited purchasers, at 
the rate of forty shillings the hundred acres, subject to a quit 
rent of one shilling per annum for ever. Many persons from 
London, Liverpool, and Bristol, embarked in his enterprise, 
and an association, called the "Free traders' society of Penn- 
sylvania," purchased large tracts of land. Articles of agree- 
ment between the proprietary and the adventurers were formed, 
under the title of " Certain conditions or concessions, agreed 
upon by William Penn, proprietary and governor of the pro- 
vince of Pennsylvania, and those who are the adventurers 
and purchasers in the same province, the eleventh of July, 
1681. "t(l) 

• Votes of Assembly, Introduction. f.rroud. (1) See Note 

I, Appendix. 



16823 HISTORY OF Pennsylvania. 59 

This agreement consisted of twenty articles. The first 
ten provided for the survey of a city plot upon some proper 
site; the apportionment of city lots to country purchasers; 
the laying out of roads, and regulation of the country allot- 
ments; the assurance to purchasers of the full property of 
rivers, waters, water-courses, mines, and minerals, and for 
encouraging the search after gold and silver. The remain- 
der regulated the trade and intercourse between the settlers 
and the aborigines ; established the laws of England, in rela- 
tion to slanders, drunkenness, swearing, cursing, pride in ap- 
parel, trespasses, replevins, weights and measures; directed 
the planting of one acre of woodland for every five acres 
cleared ; provided for the preservation of oak for ships, and 
mulberries for silk; appointed a registry for vessels, with the 
names of the owners, and of the passengers and freights 
brought into the province; and required public notice to be 
given by all persons about to depart from the colony. 

These preparatory arrangements having been satisfactorily 
made, two ships from London and one from Bristol, with 
many passengers, sailed for Pennsylvania. The Amity, one 
of the London ships, encountering adverse gales, was driven 
to the West Indies, and did not reach her place of destination 
until the spring of the following year. The other London 
vessel, the John and Sarah, first arrived, and was speedily 
followed by the Bristol Praetor, which landed her passengers 
at the village of Upland, (Chester,) on the eleventh of De- 
cember; and the river having froze over that night, the pas- 
sengers remained there all winter. Although the emigrants 
arrived at the most unfavourable season of the year, they were 
exposed to little inconvenience. The prior settlers humanely 
and cheerfully administering to the wants of the adventurers. 
The population was at this time about two thousand souls, 
and there were six houses erected for public religious wor- 
ship; three by the Swedes; one at Christiana, one at Wicacoa, 
now Southwark, a suburb of Philadelphia, and one at Tinni- 
cum island : and three by the Quakers ; one at Chester, 
another at Shackamaxon or Kensington, and another at the 
falls of the Delaware.* (1) 

* Proud. (1) See Note K, Appendix. 



60 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l682 

The first emigrants, under Penn, conducted themselves 
with great prudence and circumspection. They were prin- 
cipally Quakers; temperate, industrious, and economical; 
well fitted to sustain the hardships of their new life, and to 
apply the means for removing them. Their success excited 
new adventurers. In the space of three years, above fifty 
vessels arrived, fi-eighted with passengers ; and so early as 
August, 16S3, Penn estimated the population at above four 
thousand souls.* Such an influx of consumers to an unculti- 
vated country, under less prudent leaders, would have pro- 
duced much inconvenience from want of food. But with 
proper foresight, the colonists brought with them provisions 
sufficient for their maintainance, until they might reap the 
grain they should sow. Yet occasional scarcity of food ex- 
isted among the poorer or more improvident classes, and they 
acknowledged in the occasional flight of pigeons and the ac- 
cidental capture of deer, undoubted evidence of the Divine 
approbation. Their prudence was not confined to the supply 
of food only; houses, and a water-mill for grinding corn, were 
imported and immediately erected. The emigrants were 
chiefly English, Irish, Welsh, and German. The Welsh lo- 
cated themselves west of the Schuylkill river, and formed 
the townships of Merrion, Haverford, and Radnor. Whilst 
the Germans, seating themselves a few miles east of that 
river, and north of Philadelphia, laid the foundation of the 
flourishing village of Germantown.t 

• Penn's leUcr to the society of free traders. Clarkson. Chalmers. 

•}• About the year 1683 a society was formed at Frankfort on the Main, 
Louisburg, Bremen, Lubec, and other places, who undertook in concert to 
send emigrants to Pennsylvania, and to open a trade with that country. 
This took place under the guidance of the licentiate Pastorius, from the 
free city of Windsheim, who carried over a number of Germans, and settled 
Germantown, in October, 1683. It was part of Springetsbury manor. It 
was incorporated by a patent from William Penn, executed in England in 
1689, and lost its charter, for want of a due election of officers, none being 
found willing to ser\'e, somewhere about 1704. It was first called Cresheim, 
from the native place of many of the original settlers. Watson's MSS. 1 
Pennsylvania Register, ii. 280, 343. Ebcling Hist. Penn. Proud. 



Ig82l HISTOHY OF PENNSYLVANIA. ^ 61 

But perhaps no cause contributed more to the happiness of 
the early settlers, than the conduct of the proprietary towards 
the Indians. The Dutch, and more especially the Swedes, 
had preserved with them the most friendly relations, and had 
derived o-reat benefit from their good offices. Their favour- 
able disposition was improved by Penn upon all occasions. 
With the first vessels he sent out captain William Markham, 
his relation and deputy, to whom he joined other commis- 
sioners, authorized to confer with the aborigines on the pur- 
chase of land and a treaty of amity. He instructed his 
commissioners to conduct themselves with candour, justice, 
and humanity. He addressed to the Indians a letter, admi- 
rably adapted to the plainness of their understandings, which 
made a favourable and lasting impression, on their minds, of 
his sincerity. Declaring, that he and they were created by 
the same Deity, who had written his law upon all hearts, 
commanding them to love and aid each other, he deplored 
the unjust treatment they had suffered from European visit- 
ers, and protested his own disinterestedness and love of peace, 
and his wish to conciliate them by probity and kindness. 
He proposed that all differences which should arise between 
his people and them, should be adjusted by arbitrators mu- 
tually chosen; and, announcing his intention of speedily visit- 
ing them in person, he solicited their friendship for his com- 
missioners and friends, and requested their acceptance of his 
presents as testimonies of his benevolence. 

In April, 16S2, the proprietary published the "Frame of 
government and certain laws, agreed upon by himself and 
certain freemen of the province, to be submitted to the ap- 
probation of the first provincial council." By this frame, which 
was the first constitution of the colony, the government was 
established in the governor and freemen, in the form of a 
council and general assembly. The council consisted of se- 
venty-two members, divided into three classes, each class 
serving one year, so that there might be an annual succession 
of twenty-four members. No member was eligible for more 
than seven years out of eight. The governor had in council 
a treble vote. The executive authority was vested in a 



62 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA." [1682 

governor and council, who were exclusively authorized to ori- 
ginate and prepare all bills for the sanction of the assembly; 
to designate sites for cities, ports, and market towns, and to 
lay out roads and highways: they were charged with the care 
of the treasury, and punishment of malversation in its offi- 
cers; with the establishment and direction of public schools, 
and tlie encouragement of the arts and sciences. 

For the better performance of its duties, the council was 
divided into four sections or committees. To the first, the 
"Committee of plantations,'' were assigned the location of 
cities, towns, and roads, and the determination of all suits 
and controversies relating to plantations; to the second, the 
<' Committee of justice and safety," the superintendence of the 
peace, and the execution of the criminal laws; the third, the 
" Committee of trade and treasury," was empowered to regu- 
late all trade and commerce, according to law, to encourao-e 
manufactures and home productions, and to defray the pub- 
lic charge of the province ; and the fourth, called the « Com- 
mittee of manners, education, and arts," was charged with the 
supervision of public morals, and the guidance of youth in 
the paths of virtue and knowledge. Each section consisted 
of eighteen members, six of whom made a quorum, and a 
quorum of each section constituted an operative council. 

The governor and council had power to establish courts 
of justice, and annually to appoint the judges, justices, and 
masters of the rolls. The sheriffs, coroners, and justices of 
the peace, were to be appointed yearlj^, by the governor 
alone, from a dual nomination made by the assembly. But, 
as the state of the province did not admit of quick rotation 
in office, the proprietary reserved to himself the appointment, 
in the first instance, of all officers, and directed that they should 
continue in office during good behavioui*. 

The first general assembly was to be composed of all the 
inhabitants: subsequently, the legislature was to consist of a 
number not exceeding two hundred: but, when the popu- 
lation would justify it, might be increased to five hundred 
members. It was empowered to pass on all bills, by a vote 



1682] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 63 

of rejection or confirmation, or, when amendment was ne- 
cessary, to confer with the council. On all important sub- 
jects it was to vote by ballot. The term of session was 
unlimited, but the governor and council might convene or 
prorogue it at pleasure. 

Should the governor at any time be a minor, having no 
guardian appointed by his father, the council was authorized 
to nominate three guardians, one of whom should preside as 
deputy governor, and, with the consent of the others, exercise 
the executive power. 

The preamble to this constitution contains some apposite 
remarks on the nature of government ; and, though tinctured 
with the colour of the proprietary's religious faith and evan- 
gelical enthusiasm, exhibits profound and philosophic views 
of this important subject. He considered government as an 
ordinance of God, to be religiously supported, and equally 
necessary to preserve the happiness of the virtuous, as io 
punish and amend the vicious; and that its true and legiti- 
mate object was the happiness of the people, which was to be 
attained by the free expression of the public will. He con- 
cluded a review of the relative excellence of the several spe- 
cies of governments, with the following comprehensive and 
unrivalled description of a free constitution. " Jiny govern- 
ment is free to the people under it {whatever be the frame) 
ivhere the laws rule and the 2T£ople are parties to those 
laws; and more than this is tyranny, oligarchy, and con- 
fusion." 

Although the proprietary was the undoubted author of 
this preface, it must not be inferred that all the provisions of 
the constitution had his approbation. He was overruled in 
many particulars by his associates, who, Markham declares, 
" unless pleased, and granted whatever they wanted, would 
not have settled his country."* His penetration could not 
fail to discern, that the assembly was too numerous for the 
population of his colony, and was inefficient, from want of 
power to initiate bills; and that the council, armed with legis- 

* Markham's letter to governor Fletcher. Clialmcrs. 



64 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1682 

lative, judicial, and executive power, was susceptible of being 
converted into an irresistible engine of oppression. 

The laws which were annexed to the " frame of govern- 
ment," reflect honour on the legislator: some of them being 
of a political and fundamental character, might have been 
properly included in that instrument. Such were those de- 
fining the qualifications of freemen, prohibiting the levying 
of taxes unless by law, establishing the trial by jury, and se- 
curing universal toleration of religion. This code was re- 
vised and enlarged by the first assembly of the province. 

South of the province lay the territories or counties on 
Delaware, stretching one hundred and fifty miles along the 
bay, to the Atlantic ocean. The possessor of this country, 
commanding the entrance and course of the river, would 
have power to harass the commerce, and in other respects to 
affect the welfare of the neighbouring colony. Penn was 
desirous to possess these territories, as well on account of 
the security they afforded, as of the advantages to be derived 
from a hardy and laborious population. The duke of York 
held them as an appendage to his government, and, though 
reluctant to cede them, he could not resist the solicitations of 
the proprietary.* He executed three deeds to Penn in Au- 
gust, 16S2. The first, dated the twenty-first, releasing his 
right to the province; the others, dated the twenty-fourth, 
granting the town of Newcastle and the land lying within 
a circle of twelve miles about it; and the tract of land be- 
ginning at twelve miles south of Newcastle, and extending 
southward to Cape Henlopen. For the last tract, Penn cove- 
nanted to pay the duke and his heirs one-half of all the rents 
and profits received from it.t These grants conveyed to the 
proprietary a fee simple estate in the soil, but no political right 
whatever. Holding in soccage as of the duke's castle at New 
York, he owed fealty to, and was a subject of that government. 
Whether he ever obtained from the crown political powers 
over this country, is questionable. It is certain, that, when 
the right he assumed became the subject of controversy, 

• Chalmers. f Introduc. votes of assembly. Proud, 102. 



16823 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 65 

among the inhabitants of the province and territories, no 
grant of this nature was exhibited. (1) These deeds were 
duly recorded in New York, and, by proclamation of the 
commander there, twenty-first November, 1782, to the ma- 
gistrates on the west side of the Delaware, the rights of Penn 
under them were publicly recognised.* 

(1) See Note L, Appendix. * N. Y. Historical documents in secre- 

tary's office, liarrisburg. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Arrival of the proprietary- •••Takes possession of the terri- 
tories«^"Convokes an assembly""Laws^^'«Union of the 

province and territories^-^'Act of naturalization The 

great law^^Remarks — Penn's dispute with lord Baltimore 
concerning boundaries ••••Treaty with the Indians«"^The 
city of Philadelphia surveyed^'^^Allotments to purchasers^-* 
Division of the country into counties*«--Judiciary-^^'Return 
of the proprietary to Europe, and settlement of the govern- 
ment preparatory thereto. 

In September, the proprietary, with many friends, chiefly 
from Sussex and of the society of Quakers, sailed for Penn- 
sylvania. The small-pox unfortunately broke out on board 
their vessel, and proved fatal to thirty of the passengers, 
nearly one-third of the number that had embarked. Penn 
landed at Newcastle on the twenty-fourth of October, after a 
passage of six weeks, and was received with great respect 
and every demonstration of pleasure. *(1) 

He immediately assumed political authority over the terri- 
tories, and proceeded to establish his government, by sum- 
moning the magistrates and the people to the court-house, 
where he received formal possession of the country. He 
addressed the assembled multitude, explained his views in 
obtaining the province, expatiated on the nature of civil go- 
vernment generally, and particularly on that which he came 
to establish, promised them undisturbed enjoyment of civil 
and religious liberty, and recommending to them sobriety 
and peace, renewed the commissions of the magistrates.* 

On the fourth of December, he convened an assembly, pur- 
suant to the constitution, at Chester, of which Nicholas Moore, 

* Clarkson. Proud. (1) See Note M, Appendix. 



1'682] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 67 

president of the society of free traders, was chosen speaker. 
During a session of three days, this legislature enacted three 
laws: 1. An act for the union of the province and territories: 
2, An act of naturalization : 3. The great law, comprising a 
general system of jurisprudence. 

1. The inhabitants of the territories, anxious to participate 
in the benefits of the provincial constitution, solicited to be 
incorporated with the province on the third day of the ses- 
sion, and a bill, prepared by the proprietary, was imme- 
diately oiTered and adopted.* This act should rather be con- 
sidered as confirmatory, than as the origin, of the union. 
For the freemen of the territories formed a part of the 
assembly, and acted with those of the province on all 
measures, from the commencement to the close of the ses- 
sion. As this measure strengthened the authority of Penn, 
so, in some degree, it legitimated his conduct. Tracing po- 
litical power to its only true source, the will of the people, 
he was ready to forget that no power to rule the territories 
was given to him by the deeds of feoffment from the duke of 
York; nor did he nicely scan the rights of the royal preroga- 
tive, infringed by himself and the people, over whom his 
power was thus established. 

2. The "Act of union," alone, was not deemed sufficient to 
effect an entire amalgamation of the inhabitants of the pro- 
vince and territories. For, although, by the capitulation of 
the Dutch with colonel Nichols, in 1664,t and by the treaty 
between England and the States General, the inhabitants of 
the west border of the Delaware became English subjects, 
they were considered by Penn so far a distinct people, as 
to require an act of naturalization to make them citizens 
of his commonwealth. By such an act, the Dutch, Swedes, 
and Fins of the territories, entered into full possession of 
provincial rights. And, with jealousy and fear, inspired by 
their weakness, the house resolved that the future naturaliza- 
tion of foreigners should be made by special laws.J 

* Votes. f Proud. + Votes, 



68 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1682 

3. The great law, containing sixty-one chapters, was the 
work of the proprietary. He embraced in it most of the laws 
agreed upon, in England, and supplied such as the circum- 
stances and opinions of the colonists rendered necessary. 
This code or system, for it is entitled to that character, 
comprehends the chief subjects of legislative attention, in a 
society without commerce or foreign connexions. 

Religious toleration was secured in the amplest form to all 
who professed belief in the Deity. This section, which, by 
its liberality and eloquence, merits the admiration of posterity, 
declares that, "Almighty God being only Lord of conscience, 
Father of lights, and the author, as well as object, of all di- 
vine knowledge, faith, and worship; who can only enlighten 
the mind, and persuade and convince the understanding of 
people in due reverence to his sovereignty over the souls of 
mankind:" and, therefore, it enacts, " That no person, now 
or hereafter living in the province, who shall confess one 
Almighty God to be the creator, upholder, and ruler of the 
world, and professeth him or herself obliged in conscience to 
live peaceably and justly under the civil government, shall, 
in anywise, be molested or prejudiced for his or her conscien- 
tious persuasion or practice; nor shall he or she, at any time, 
be compelled to frequent or maintain any religious worship, 
place, or ministry, contrary to his or her mind, but shall 
freely and fully enjoy his or her liberty in that respect, with- 
out any interruption or reflection: and if any person shall 
abuse or deride any other, for his or her different persuasion 
or practice in religion, such shall be looked upon as a dis- 
turber of the peace, and be punished accordingly." 

But, though all religions were thus protected, the profes- 
sion of the Christian faith was made a necessary qualification 
for office. 

The people were commanded to abstain from their com- 
mon toil and labour on the first day of the week, or Lord's 
day, for the ease of the creation, the study of the scriptures, 
and attendance on Christian worship. 

Swearing, cursing, and blasphemy, were punished by fine 
and imprisonment. 



16823 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 69 

Personal liberty was strictly guarded. No arrest was per- 
mitted in civil cases, unless the defendant were about to de- 
part the province; and in criminal cases, the accused were 
bailable, unless the offence were capital, and the presumption 
of guilt violent. 

The judiciary power was vested in a supreme court, sitting 
quarterly; a court of common pleas, held monthly; and a 
court of quarter sessions and jail delivery. 

Real estate was made devisable, by will with two wit- 
nesses. In cases of intestacy, it was distributed among the 
children of the decedent. It was subjected to the payment 
of debts, when the debtor died without issue ; if he left issue, 
one-half only was liable to execution, and that, only in case 
the land were purchased after the debts were contracted.* 

All conveyances of real estate, other than leases for a year, 
and all bills, bonds, and specialties for more than five pounds 
value, and of longer date than three months, were declared 
void, unless registered vv^ithin two months from the making 
thereof, if made within the province; if made out of the 
province, unless registered within six months. 

A public registry was established for births, marriages, 
burials, wills, the names of guardians and trustees, and for 
letters of administration. 

Oaths were abolished, and the penalty of perjury was af- 
fixed to a false affirmation. Two witnesses were required to 
maintain an issue in all cases, civil and criminal. 

To encourage commerce, factors and asrents wronsinsi: their 
employers were compellable to make restitution, and to pay 
additionally one-third of the sum converted ; and, in case of 
the death of such factor or agent, the committee of trade was 
authorized to seize so much of his estate as would satisfy the 
claims of his employers. 

All persons paying taxes miglit elect or be elected; and 
the purity of election was guarded by punishments enacted 
against bribery. 

• r.y the provincial laws, under Andross, both personal and real estates, 
without exception or limitation, were suljject to be sold for debt. N. Y. 
historical documents, in secretary's office at Ilarrisburg. 



70 HISTOIIY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1682 

Murder was punishable by death; manslaughter and chance- 
medley in such manner as circumstances should require; arson 
by a double satisfaction to the injured party, one year's im- 
prisonment at hard labour, and such corporal punishment as 
the justices should direct: burglary by fourfold restitution, 
and three months' imprisonment at hard labour; and, for 
want of means to make restitution, imprisonment for seven 
years. 

Assaulting or menacing a parent was punishable by im- 
prisonment at hard labour during the parent's pleasure; as- 
saulting or menacing a magistrate, by fine and one month's 
imprisonment; assaulting or menacing a master or mistress, 
by fine and imprisonment at the discretion of two justices of 
the peace. 

Speaking slightly of, or abusive carriage towards, any ma- 
gistrate or person in office, was punishable by fine, not less 
than twenty shillings, or imprisonment at hard labour, for a 
term not less than ten days: sedition and libel by a fine, not 
less than twenty shillings : scandalous and malicious report- 
ers, and defamers and spreaders of false news, at discretion. 

Marriage was m.ade a civil contract, to be entered into with 
consent of parents or guardians, (after a certificate given by 
credible persons that the parties had no pre-engagement, and 
after publication of the intention of such parties,) before wit- 
nesses. 

Adultery was punished by public whipping, and imprison- 
ment at hard labour for one year, for the first ofience, and, 
for the second, divorce and imprisonment for life: incest by 
the forfeiture of half the estate of the criminal, and imprison- 
ment for a year; for the second offence, imprisonment for 
life: rape, by the forfeiture of one-third of the criminal's 
estate, to the parent, if a maid was violated ; if she had no pa- 
rent, then to herself; if a widow, to her; and, if a wife, to 
the husband ; and by whipping and imprisonment at hard 
labour for a year ; for the second offence, imprisonment for 
life: incontinence between unmarried persons, by three 
months' imprisonment at hard labour, and the marriage of 
the parties: the speaking of unclean and obscene words, by 



1682] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 71 

the fine of one shilling and sitting in the stocks: bigamy, by 
imprisonment for life. 

Drunkenness, encouragement of drunkenness, drinking or 
pledging of healths, were chastised by fine and imprisonment. 

Stage plays, masks, revels, bull-baits, and cock-fighting, in- 
duced ten days' imprisonment at hard labour, or a fine of 
twenty shillings; playing at cards, dice, lotteries, and such 
enticing and evil sports, five days' imprisonment, or a fine of 
five shillings. 

All prisons were declared to be work-houses for felons, 
thieves, and vagrants, and every person wrongfully impri- 
soned, was entitled to double damages against the informer or 
prosecutor. 

These laws were to be printed and published, and taught 
in the schools of the province and territories. 

This code had many faults, but it had also man)^ excel- 
lencies. The offences prohibited were not accurately defined, 
nor their punishments sufficiently ascertained. Too much 
was left in the power of the magistrate, in whose integrity 
only the offender was secure from oppression. The proprie- 
tary legislated too much. He descended into the privacies 
of life, and attempted to regulate the minor morals, which 
may be safely left to the good sense of society for correc- 
tion. He, with his sect, had drank deeply of the puritanical 
spirit, which drew its jurisprudence from the Old Testament, 
and proscribed harmless amusements because they were sus- 
ceptible of abuse. But he resisted, with masterly force, the 
penalty which that spirit, both in England and America, had 
affixed to the breach of the law. We cannot read the New 
England code of 1641 without horror.* Its lines are written 
in blood, and vengeance stalks over every page. The amend- 
ment of an offender, and the restoration of a misguided wretch 
to society, was never conceived by its framers. The object 
of punishment is two-fold ; terror to the evil disposed, and 
the reclamation of the criminal. To the latter, the religion 
and humanity of Penn drew his special attention; and the 
law which converted the prisons into work-houses, was the 

* Col. Mass. Hist. Soc. vol. 6. 



72 HISTOUY or I'KNNbYLVANlA. [l682 

germ from which the present mild and wholesome system of 
criminal jurisprudence of Pennsylvania has arisen. Even 
the punishment of death, awarded to the murderer, the only 
case in which it is inflicted by this code, is based on the mis- 
taken supposition that the Jewish municipal law was pre- 
scribed by the Deity to the whole human race. 

No one of these laws displays more wisdom than that re- 
gulating the descent of real estates. The rejection of the 
right of primogeniture, and the introduction of the principles 
of the civil law, were just and politic. The basis of political 
liberty is equal rights; and these are intimately connected 
with the frequent interchange of property. The division of 
the father's acquisitions among his offspring effectually pre- 
vents the perpetuity and overgrowth of riches in the same 
family. The accumulations of avarice and ambition are scat- 
tered by the hand of death, and no longer afford the means, 
nor encourage the disposition, to acquire illegitimate power. 
The law guides the conscience, where its power is not abso- 
lute ; and the pleadings of parental affection are heard at the 
making of a will, against the suggestions of pride and the de- 
lusions of vanity. 

The small portion of time consumed in the enactment of 
so many laws affords striking evidence of the harmony that 
prevailed in this assembly, and of its devotion to the pro- 
prietary. The Swedes were much touched by his benevo- 
lence and wisdom, and deputed Lacy Cocke, a distinguished 
person of their nation, to express their gratitude, and their de- 
termination "to love, serve, and obey him with all they pos- 
sessed."* 

The care and labour which the proprietary employed to 
have the boundaries between himself and lord Baltimore, 
conclusively and satisfactorily settled, proved abortive. The 
latter set up claims altogether inconsistent with the Pennsyl- 
vania charter, and the title to the territories derived from the 
duke of York, and gave much disquiet to the border colonists. 
With the design of amicably arranging their divSputes, Penn 
visited lord Baltimore immediately. after the adjournment of 

• Proud. 



1682] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 73 

the assembly. But not being able to effect this, after a con- 
ference of twodays, during which hewas entertained with great 
politeness and hospitality, he consented to postpone the ne- 
gotiation until the succeeding spring. He, however, spent 
some time in Maryland, in religious visits, and in cultivating 
the friendship of the inhabitants; and, with the same view, 
he, about this time, visited New York.* 

This question of boundary was vexatious and of long con- 
tinuance, and was not treated by lord Baltimore with that 
delicacy and forbearance which characterized William Penn. 
For Baltimore would not delay the exercise of the rights 
which he claimed, until inquiry should be made into their 
legality; but, by proclamation, offered lands in the territories 
for sale, at half the price demanded for those unquestionably 
within his own patent;! and in the following year, he used 
force to dispossess several persons, who refused to acknowledge 
his title, and threatened others who would not pay him quit- 
rent.j The claims of Baltimore were not without colour. 
Maryland was granted to Cecilius Calvert, lord Baltimore, by 
patent, dated June 20th, 1632, and was now held by his son 
Charles. The charter, in the description of the northern 
boundaries, had the following clause, "unto that part of 
Delaware bay on the north, which lies under the fortieth 
degree of northern latitude;" but it had also a clause, re- 
stricting the grantee to the occupation of such lands as had 
not been previously settled by European nations. Penn's 
charter included the country from the " beginning of the for- 
tieth degree of north latitude," and, of course, from the end 
of the thirty-ninth degree. The words '' under the fortieth 
degree," gave to Baltimore, as he supposed, a right to the 
lands up to the beginning of the forty-first degree. To this 
construction, Penn opposed the restricting clause in the Ma- 
ryland charter, and averred that the territories had been set- 
tled by Europeans in 1627, five years before the date of that 
grant. He also endeavoured to restrain the degree in Balti- 

• Proud. f Bait. Proclam. 1 5th May, 1633. Penn's Letter to Com. 

of Plantations, 1 ilh June, 1683. ^ Proud. 

10 



74 HI5TORT OF PENN3TI.YANIA. [l682 

more's grant to sixty miles, alleging that to be the mode of 
computation at the time it was given.* 

The proprietary had a deep interest in this contest. Should 
Baltimore prevail, he would be deprived of one degree by 
five, equal to twenty-four thousand one hundred and sixteen 
square miles. But this possible curtailment of his province 
did not affect him so deeply as the prospective loss of ports 
and commercial advantages upon the Chesapeake, which he 
supposed to be included in his charter.! During his life, how- 
ever, no effectual means were adopted for terminating the 
dispute. In 1732, his heirs and lord Baltimore entered into 
an agreement, by which nearly one-half of the Delaware 
peninsula, north and west of Cape Henlopen, was assigned 
to the former, and the southern boundary of the province 
was fixed on that parallel of latitude which is fifteen miles 
south of the most southern parts of the city of Philadelphia. 
But the performance of this agreement was procrastinated 
by Baltimore, under various pretexts, and the proprietaries 
were driven, in 1735, to the English court of chancery for 
relief. In 1750, lord chancellor Hardwicke decreed specific 
performance, and determined several questions which had 
arisen out of the agreement during the controversy.(l)J But 
the Maryland proprietary contrived also to delay the exe- 
cution of this decree. A supplementary bill was filed, pend- 
ing which Frederick, lord Baltimore, in 1760, made a new 
agreement, explanatory of the last. The line, pursuant to 
these agreements, was run, in 1761, the distance of two hun- 
dred and thirty miles. 

Markham, soon after his arrival, had purchased of the In- 
dians an inconsiderable quantity*of land on either side of the 
falls of the Delavvare.§ Penn, desirous to make further pur- 
chases, and to fosferthe friendship which the aboriginesalrcady 
entertained for him, invited them to a conference at Coaquan- 
nock, or Coaguenaku, the she on which Philadelphia is now 
erected. But, from some unknown and now unimportant cause, 

•Ibid. Douglass. f Proinl. (1) See Note N, Appendix. 

i Vez. Rep. 455. § Sm. Laws I'cnn. 110. 



1682] HISTORY OF PENNSTLVANIA. 75 

they assembled at Shackamaxon, now Kensington.* Here,on the 
bank of the Delaware, stood an elm tree of prodigious size.(l) 
Beneath its widely spreading branches, the proprietary re- 
ceived the congregated sachems and their people. Dressed 
in the plain habit of his sect, without troops, without arms, 
or the usual insignia of power, he confided himself unhesi- 
tatingly to lawless savages, on whose forests he had made 
great and permanent inroads. He was distinguished from 
the Friends that surrounded him by a sky-blue sash of net- 
work about his waist; on his right hand stood colonel Mark- 
ham, his relation and secretary; on his left, his friend Pearson, 
who had accompanied him from England; behind him fol- 
lowed a train of Quakers; before him were borne various ar- 
ticles of merchandise, intended as presents to the Indians, 
and payment of his purchases. He held in his hand a roll 
of parchment, containing the confirmation of the treaty of 
purchase and amity. t 

The Indians assembled in great numbers. When seen 
through the woods, as far as the eye could discern, painted 
and armed, fears for their own safety unconsciously stole over 
the unarmed Europeans, whose only shield was the justice of 
their intentions. The chief sachem, advancing before his 
warriors, placed on his head a chaplet crowned with a small 
horn, the emblem of royal power, and of religious and invio- 
lable peace. At this signal, the Indians cast their bows and 
arrows to the earth, seated themselves around their chiefs in 
the form of a half moon, and waited in respectful silence the 
progress of the conference. The leaders then announced to 
the proprietary, through an interpreter, their readiness to hear 
him. I 

Penn addressed them in a short and judicious speech. "The 
Great Spirit," he said, '< who ruled the heavens and the earth, 
the Father of all men, bore witness to the sincerity of his 
wishes to dwell with them in peace and friendship, and to 
serve them with all his power. Himself and followers had 
met them unarmed, because their religion forbade the use of 
hostile weapons against their fellow creatures: they came not 

• December Uth, 1682. Mem. Fenn. Hist. Soc. 1 vol. 323. 
(1) See Note O, Appendix. | Clarkson. 



76 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l682 

to injure others, that was offensive to the Great Spirit, but 
to do good, in which he delighted: having met in the broad 
pathway of truth and benevolence, they ought to disdain de- 
ception, and to regulate their conduct by candour, fraternity, 
and love." Unrolling the parchment, he explained the arti- 
cles of the treaty and terms of purchase. " By these," he 
continued, " they were protected in their lawful pursuits, 
even in the lands they had alienated. Their right to im- 
prove their plantations and to procure subsistence would be, 
in all respects, similar to that of the English. Should dis- 
putes unfortunately arise between the two people, they should 
be adjusted by a jury, composed of equal numbers of Indians 
and Englishmen." From the merchandise before him, he 
then paid for the land, and made them many presents. Lay- 
ing the roll of parchment upon the earth, he bade them ob- 
serve it as a sign that the land should be thencefoi th common 
to both people. " He would not," he added, " like the peo- 
ple of Maryland, call them his children or his brethren; for 
some parents chastised their children too severely, and bre- 
thren would disagree; nor would he compare their friendship 
to a chain which the rain might rust, or the fall of a tree de- 
stroy; butthat he would consider them asof one flesh and blood 
with the Christians, and the same as if one man's body were 
divided in two parts." Resuming the parchment, he pre- 
sented it to the chief sachem, and desired that it might " be 
carefully preserved for three generations, that their children 
might know what had passed, as if he had remained to re- 
peat it."* 

This treaty forms a brilliant ray of the halo which graces 
the head of Penn. It has been honourably noticed by eminent 
authors. " This," says Voltaire, " was the only treaty between 
these people and the Christians that was not ratified by an 
oath, and which was never broken." " William Penn thought 
it just," writes the abbe Raynal, "to obtain an additional 
right, by a fair and open purchase from the aborigines; and 
thus he signalized his arrival by an act of equity, which made 
his person and his principles equally beloved. Here the 
mind rests with pleasure upon modern history, and feels 

• Clarkson. 



1'582] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 77 

some indemnification for that disgust, melancholy, and horror, 
which the whole of it, particularly that of the European set- 
tlements in America, inspires."* It has been erroneously 
supposed that this was the first instance of the purchase of 
lands from the aboriginal Americans. But, in this particu- 
lar, Penn followed the example of Massachusetts, New York, 
Maryland, and New Jersey; and the Dutch, Swedes, and 
Fins of the Delaware. His merit consists in the justice and 
kindness which characterized all his intercourse with the na- 
tives. These have made an indelible impression. His me- 
mory is still gratefully cherished by their descendants, amid 
the distant wilds to which they have been driven by the tide 
of population. The great and good Onas, as they rendered 
the word Penn in their language, was an exemplar, which 
they frequently held up for imitation to his lieutenants and 
successors: and by this name they continued to distinguish 
the future governors of Pennsylvania.! 

Many of the adventurers were indifferently protected from 
the inclemencies of the weather, by rude huts, and hollow 
trees, and by caves dug in the banks of the Delaware. At 
the close of the year, the proprietary, with the assistance of 
his surveyor-general, Thomas Holme, proceeded to lay out 
his promised city.J(l) The ground selected was claimed by 
three Swedes, named Swenson, who relinquished it for a 
larger tract at a small distance.§ The spot was well chosen. 
A front on the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, both naviga- 
ble, gave it important commercial advantages; the excellent 
harbour on the former, the boldness of its shores, and its 
depth of water; the level surface of the ground, excellent 
clay for the manufacture of bricks, inexhaustible stone quar- 
ries in the vicinity, and the salubrity of the atmosphere, made 
the site in all respects desirable. The city plot was two miles 
from river to river, and extended on the margin of each, one 
mile, making the circumference six miles. A part of the 
town plot was divided among the first settlers, but not ac- 

* Clarkson. | I'roud, 213, in note. i Ibid. (I) See 

Note P, Appendix. § Campanius. 



yg HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1682 

cording to the *' conditions" agreed upon between them and 
the proprietary. By that agreement, the adventurers were 
entitled to city lots, in the proportion of ten acres to every 
five hundred purchased in the country, "if the place would 
allow it." This ratio required a town of six or seven thou- 
sand acres, but the plot of Philadelphia contained only 
eleven hundred and eighty acres. This necessarily induced a 
new allotment. There is no record of this alteration, nor 
any written evidence that it was approved by the inhabitants; 
but a regular series of uniform facts upon the books of the 
land-office establish it beyond a doubt.* 

During the first year, eighty houses were erected in the 
city, various mechanical arts were established, and an equita- 
ble and profitable trade was opened with the Indians. The 
governor chose his own residence in a manor, which he called 
Pennsbury, situated a few miles below the falls of the Dela- 
ware, and about twenty-five from the city, where he built a 
large and convenient brick house, having an extensive hall of 
audience for his Indian conferences. t 

The survey of the country inhabited by Europeans havmg 
been completed, the proprietary divided it into six counties; 
three in the province, and the like number in the territories. 
The former he named Philadelphia, Bucks, and Chester; the 
latter, Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex. The seals adopted by 
the legislature for these counties, are indicative of the sim- 
plicity^'of the times. That for Philadelphia was an anchor; 
for Bucks, a tree and vine; for Chester, a plough; for New- 
castle, a cassia plant; for Kent, three ears of Indian corn; 
and for Sussex, a wheat-sheaf. The county organization was 
completed by the appointment of sheriffs and other officers. 

The time fixed by the charter, for the election of the coun- 
cil, approaching, the proprietary issued writs to the sheriffs, 
requiring them to summon the inhabitants of their respective 
counties to elect twelve members, and to invite all the free- 
men personally to appear in the assembly. But tlie latter, 

• Sec 2 vol. Smith's Laws of Penn. in note, where this subject is fully 
treated. j Glaikson. 



1683] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 79 

by general consent, resolved to delegate tiieir powers to twelve 
representatives from each county, three for the council and 
nine for the assembly. They justified this innovation by 
that article of their charter, which empowered the governor 
and the freemen to construe and explain it. Yet some fears 
were expressed, that an omission to use the elective franchise 
in its full extent, might be a waiver of their charter. The pro- 
prietary, however, quieted these apprehensions, by declaring 
his readiness to concur in any alteration that was conducive 
to the public welfare.* 

The council convened at Philadelphia, on the tenth of 
March, 1683, and the assembly two days afterwards.(l) The 
most important measure of the session was the adoption of a 
new charter, which was framed by a committee of the coun- 
cil and assembly. This instrument was much belter digested 
than the former. The council was reduced to eighteen, and 
the assembly to thirty-six members. The grand committees 
and the treble vote of the governor in council were abolished.! 
The number of the council was limited to seventy-two, and 
that of the house to two hundred members. And this, like 
the former charter, contained an amendatory principle, by 
which it might be altered with the consent of the proprietary 
and governor, his heirs and assigns, and six parts in seven of 
the freemen in council and assembly met. The estates of 
aliens were assured to their wives or children, on the deatli 
of husbands or parents. 

A further important alteration was made in the constitu- 
tion of the legislature, not by the charter, but by a resolution 
of the house, approved by the governor. The assembly con- 
sidered the right to confirm or reject the laws proposed by 
the council, as too limited; and required power to originate 
all legislative measures. This was conceded, notwithstand- 
ing a courtly member deemed even their pretension to de- 
bate on the laws, "too presumptuous, and derogatory from 
the governor's privileges and royalties, and that they were in 



• Proud. (I) See Note U, Appendix, for luinics of llie members of 

eouncil and assembly. | Votes. 



30 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [I6&S 

duty bound rather to restore to him the right to negative their 
bills than to attempt a diminution of his power. 

The governor was extremely desirous to make the people, 
in the fullest sense, parties to his laws, and that the bills pro- 
posed by councils should be thoroughly understood by them, 
before they were sanctioned by the assembly. For this pur- 
pose, all bills were directed to be published by proclamation, 
9nd the members of assembly to meet at stated periods, in 
their several counties, to consider them with their constitu- 
ents, preparatory to the general session. He seems, how- 
ever, not to have had entire confidence in their discreet exer- 
cise of legislative powers. He dreaded the forfeiture of the 
royal charter, by some act of theirs, and demanded from 
them security, to indemnify him against the consequences. 
But this requisition, after a short debate, was suffered to sleep 
upon the journals.* In grateful acknowledgment of his ser- 
vices, and in consideration of his expenditures, the assembly 
presented him with an impost upon certain imports and ex- 
ports t The assembly provided by law for the ordinary ex- 
penses of the counties, in each of which they established an 
orphan'scourt,holdingtwosessionsannually,forthemspection 

and regulation of the affairs of orphans and widows. J Men in- 
experienced, and recently entrusted with legislative power, are 

often disposed to exercise it unnecessarily, and sometimes 
ridiculously. This was exemplified in two singular proposi- 
tions made during the present session: first, that young men 
should be compelled to marry; and, secondly, that two kinds 
of cloths only should be worn, the one adapted to the summer, 
the other to the winter season. But the good sense of the 
majority left propagation to its legitimate patrons, plentiful 
sustenance, and the passions of our nature; and economy to 
the aid of uncontrolled vanity. § The policy of the Quakers 
■ discourages appeals to the courts of law, unless all other 

• Votes. t »e tleclined to avail himself of this revenue for the pre- 

sent, but considered it as a source of future profit. He was deprived of it 
by the repeal of the impost without his consent, during the admmistra- 
tion of his deputy. Tlmmas Lloyd. Logan MSS. t Penn's letter to 

the society of traders. ■§ Proud. 



1684] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 81 

peaceable means fail to determine their controversies. From 
this principle, provision was made for the appointment, at 
every county court, of three peace-makers, in the nature of 
common arbitrators, to hear and decide all differences be- 
tween individuals.* The assembly adjourned, after a session 
of twenty-two days, during which, beside enacting the laws 
we have noticed, they revised and confirmed the whole civil 
and criminal code. 

The judicial power was vested in permanent courts of jus- 
tice, to be elected by William Penn, during his life, and after- 
wards by the governor and council, when they should judge 
convenient. In some cases, this power was exercised by 
the proprietary and council. Several bills of indictment, for 
issuing counterfeit silver money, were preferred by a regular 
grand jury, and tried by a petit jury. One Pickering, and 
two of his accomplices, were convicted of coining silver, in 
the form of Spanish money, with too great an alloy of cop- 
per, Pickering was sentenced to redeem his base coin in 
good money, the former to be melted before it should be 
returned, to pay a fine of forty pounds towards building a 
court-house, to stand committed until the money was paid, and 
afterwards to find surety for his good behaviour.! Many 
civil cases also were brought before this tribunal, by original 
complaint, and by appeal from the county courts. In some 
instances, committees were appointed by council to expostu- 
late with and reconcile the parties; in others, trials were 
had without the intervention of a jury. Nor were the council 
satisfied to hear such causes only as were brought before them 
by the parties. They assumed a supervisory power over,and the 
right to judge, and punish summarily, the magistrates of the 
inferior courts. In one case, they fined the judges of the 
county court of Philadelphia, forty pounds for illegal conduct, 
in taking cognizance of a suit relating to land in the county 
of Bucks.J The only instance of a prosecution for witch- 
craft, which defiles the judicial records of Pennsylvania, is 

• Penn's letter. | Proud. Minutes of comicU. O'otes. 

Minutes of council. 

11 



82^ HisTony of Pennsylvania. [1684 

registered on the minutes of council. A certain Margaret 
Matson was the accused; Penn presided at the trial, and the 
jury found the defendant "guilty of having the common 
fame of heing a witch, but not guilty in manner and form as 
she stands indicted." No judgment was pronounced on this 
verdict.(l) 

The intercommunion of the Indians and Europeans, added 
the vices of civilized life to those which the former already 
possessed. The Indians madly devoted themselves to ine- 
briation; and, notwithstanding a prohibitory law, the avarice 
and thouglitlessness of the needy and ignorant whites fur- 
nished them abundantly with ardent spirits, by which their 
health and reason were continually destroyed. Unable to 
restrain his own people from a practice which they found so 
profitable, Penn vainly appealed to the good sense of the In- 
dians. For, whilst they frankly confessed the injurious con- 
sequences of this destructive vice, and submitted to the punish- 
ment inflicted for intemperance upon their corrupters, no 
persuasion could induce its abandonment. Its prevalence 
probably saved, and has certainly supplied, the use of the 
sword. The tide of population, rapidly swelling along the 
shores of the Atlantic, required more land to sustain it than 
the savages would willingly have relin(juished. War and the 
extermination of their race must have followed. But the 
unexampled mortality among them, of which intemperance 
was the active and mighty agent, swept them from the path 
of their invaders. 

The legislature, at the session of this year, displayed a fur- 
ther grateful sense of the proprietary's merit. They voted 
him the sum of two thousand pounds, to be raised by duties 
on imported spirits, which he no longer declined; and they 
made it treason, punishable with death, to attempt his life, 
or to assail his power. 

Penn had now executed all he had designed. He had 
established a government after his ideal model, contain- 
ing a principle of improvement and regeneration. lie be- 

(1) See Note S, Appcnilix 



1684] HISTOUY OF rKNNSYLVANIA. 83 

held a people, happy in their religious and civil liberty, 
growing in numbers beyond his most sanguine expectations, 
and grateful for the virtues which had served them. He had 
in prospect a quiet, gainful, and honoured future, liut its 
quietude and monotony were features least recommendatory. 
His disposition was active, ambitious, and eager after fame. 
His present theatre was too circumscribed. Europe offered 
one more extensive, wliere, in the cast of characters, he had 
reason to believe, his would be distinguished. His proprie- 
tary and gubernatorial power would, even there, give him 
consideration. At the court of Charles he was influential, 
and by the duke of York respected and esteemed. These 
circumstances placed him at the head of his increasing sect; . 
and the protection that he could give, would be repaid by 
the influence he would acquire. Although his knowledge of 
the world forbade him to form any visionary hopes of change 
in the English government, he was sufficiently acquainted 
with the state of parties in England to perceive that the time 
was favourable to religious toleration. To this subject, he 
was nobly and ardently devoted; and it is but justice to con- 
sider it as among the principal causes of his immediate return 
to London.''' His dispute with Baltimore, and his domestic 
affairs, served as additional reasons for this determination. 

Preparatory to his departure, he made the necessary ap- 
pointments for administering his government. The exe- 
cutive power was lodged with the provincial council, of which 
Thomas Lloyd, a quaker from Wales, was made president; 
to whom the charge of the great seal was specially com- 
mitted. Markham was cieated secretary of the province 
and the territories; Thomas Holmes, surveyor-general; Tho- 
mas Lloyd, James Claypoole, and Robert Turner, commis- 
sioners of the land-office; and Nicholas Moore, William 
Welsh, William Wood, Robert Turner, and John Eckley, 
provincial judges for two years. The proprietary sailed for 
Europe on the twelfth of June. 

At his departure, the province and territories were divided 
into twenty-two townships, containing seven thousand inha- \ 
• Proud. Oldinixun Claikson. / 



S4 HISrOUY Ol' PENNSYLVANIA. [1681 

bitants, of whom two thousand five hundred resided in Phi- 
ladelphia. This city already comprised three hundred houses. 
A considerable trade was opened with the West Indies, with 
South America, and even with the Mediterranean, the profits 
of which centred in England, whence came the great mass 
of the colonial imports.* 

• Moll. Oldinixon. Proud. Claikson. Macphersou's Annals of Com- 
tiierce. 



CHAPTER V. 

Death of Charles the second — Accession of James — Conduct 
of Penn* •••Impeachment of chief justice Moore^" •Proceed- 
ings against captain Robinson* •••Misconduct in the pro- 
vince^'^^Attempts to convert the Indians^-^-Penn solicited 
to return to the province* •••Relations between the proprie- 
tary and his people^^^'New executive commission- •••extra- 
ordinary instruction^" -Alarm of Indian hostility^^-^John 
Blackwell appointed deputy-governor^^-'His administration 
• •••David Lloyd — Revolution in England^^'-Its effect on 
Penn — New arrangement of the executive power of the 
council, jealousy of the territories, and dissolution of the 
union^^^ 'Displeasure of the proprietary- •••Defence of the 
province- •••Dispute with Keith^ •••William and Mary as- 
sume the province, and appoint Fletcher governor. 

Soon after Penn's return to England, Charles the second 
died,* and w^as succeeded by James, duke of York, who was 
proclaimed in the province on the second of May. A most 
favourable opportunity of improving the province now pre- 
sented itself. 

The religious and political principles of James were viewed 
with unconquerable dread by the greater part of his subjects. 
His zeal to convert the nation, threatened to overturn the 
established religion; whilst his high sense of royal preroga- 
tive made the people tremble, lest every barrier between 
legal power and absolute despotism should be broken down. 
Among protestants, every heart sank with apprehension, 
every eye wandered in jealousy and fear. 

To have fanned the flame of discontent, to have turned the 
attention of the peaceable and the timid, the oppressed and 

♦ February 6, 1684-5. 



86 



HISTOUY or- PENNSYLVANIA. [l68; 



those who dreaded oppression, to the shores of the Delaware, 
where liberty dwelt, and plenty showered competence on 
labour, was as facile as politic. The sagacity of Penn per- 
ceived the advantage, but gratitude forbade him to use it.* 
He owed much to the royal family, and lived on a familiar 
footing with the present monarch, between whom and the 
dissenters he desired to be the mediator. He attached him- 
self so steadily and ardently to the court, that he drew upon 
himself a share of the odium in which it was involved. Yet 
circumstances so friendly to emigration were not without 
their effect. Many persons of wealth and consideration sought 
an asylum in Pennsylvania, and purchased extensive tracts 
of land. These sales of large plots the proprietary greatly 
lamented, because he was thus deprived of the profit arising 
from the enhancement of the value of lands by the increased 
population. This profit he conceived due to his labour and 
expenditure, the latter having surmounted, by three thousand 
pounds sterling, his returns.? 

The inhabitants of Pennsylvania have ever showed a jea- 
lous spirit on political subjects. Unawed by names or power, 
they have opposed a prompt resistance to usurpation, and to 
malversation in office an instant corrective. An early in- 
stance of this temper is found in the impeachment of Nicho- 
las Moore, chief justice of the province. He was charged 
with violence, partiality, and negligence, in a cause in which 
the society of free traders was interested. Ten articles were 
preferred against him, which he refused to answer, though 
frequently summoned by the council, and he was saved from 
conviction by some technical obstacle in the form of proceed- 
ing. But this did not protect him from punishment. He 
was expelled from the assembly, and was interdicted all places 
of trust by the council, until he should be tried upon the 
articles of impeachment, or should give satisfaction to the 
board. His offence was not of an heinous character, since 
he retained the confidence of the proprietary: and, in no- 

• I'cnn's letter to Popple. f Ibkl. It appears by an entry 

in Council Book A, Oct. 24, 1G84, that a warrant issued to survey for liulph 
Frctwcll a tract of land twejve miles square, in Chester county. 



1685 I HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 87 

ticing his punishment, we should remark, that he had in- 
curred the displeasure of the house, by having entered thrice 
in one day his single protest upon its minutes against the pas- 
sage of bills, which had been introduced without the publica- 
tion directed by the charter. The anger of the assembly was 
extended to Patrick Robinson, clerk of the provincial court, 
who had refused to produce before them the minutes of that 
court. They voted him to be a public enemy, and a violator 
of their privileges, and ordered him into the custody of the 
sherifT. When brought before the house, he complained of 
arbitrary and illegal treatment, refused to answer the ques- 
tions put to him, and, in a fit of sullenness, cast himself at 
full length upon the floor.* An address was presented to the 
council, requesting that the prisoner might be disqualified 
to hold any public ofiice within the province or territories; 
but this punishment was not inflicted, as Robinson subse- 
quently held the clerkship of the council and other offices. 
Neither Moore nor Robinson were Quakers; they were 
charged with enmity to that sect, or, in the language of Penn, 
♦'were esteemed the most unquiet and cross to Friends." 
There were other disturbances at this time in the province. 
A certain John Curtis, a justice of the peace, was charged with 
uttering treasonable and dangerous words against the king. 
He was ordered to be tried by commissioners from the coun- 
cil, and, though no bill was found against him, he was dis- 
missed from his office, and compelled to give surety of the 
peace, in the sum of three hundred pounds: charges were 
made against several officers of government for extortion ; and 
gross immoralities were practised among the lower class of 
people inhabiting the caves on the banks of the Delaware. 
These things were reported with great exaggeration in Eng- 
land, by the enemies of Penn and the Quakers ; they pre- 
vented emigration, and gieatly affected the reputation of the 
society of Friends and the proprietary. t 

Many pious Friends laboured to convert the Indians to 
Christianity. But their doctrines made faint and temporary 

* Votes. \ Fenu's leUer. 



8S 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1685 



impressions on minds more open to European vices, which 
found advocates in their physical constitution, than to mys- 
terious and abstract principles, to them almost incomprehen- 
sible. 

The presence of the proprietary in the province was now 
greatly desired. The assembly and his private friends earn- 
estly entreated his departure from London. But he found 
too much gratification at the court of St. James, where he 
was a favourite and a dispenser of favours, to listen to their 
instances. He pleaded, indeed, the necessity of using his 
influence to procure religious toleration.* But when this 
was effected by the proclamation for religious indulgence, and 
the suspension of the penal statutes against non-conformity, 
he uro-ed the unwillingness of the province to provide a 
suflicient revenue for his maintainance as a reason for further 
delay.t His ideas of the style of living, befitting a provin- 
cial governor, were not very humble. " I resolve," he said, 
" never to act the governor, and keep another family and 
capacity upon my private estate; if my table, cellar, and sta- 
ble may be provided for, with a barge and yacht, or sloop, for 
the service of governor and government, I m(fy try to get 
hence."t He complained that the province had failed to fulfil 
its promise to reimburse him for the extraordinary expenses 
he had incurred. § There was certainly much cause for these 
complaints. The only act that looked toward pecuniary re- 
compense, was the impost law of 16S3; but, small as that 
revenue must have been, it was slowly and partially collect- 
ed. (1) . . . 

Nor was this his only cause of complaint. His quit-rents 

were in arrear, and his urgent solicitations to have them punc- 
tually paid were disregarded: he required in vain to have 
copies of the laws submitted to him: his letters to the coun- 
cil were neglected and unanswered; and his exhortations to 
concord were ineffectual. This negligence on the part of the 
government he held to be a forfeiture of their charter, which 



• Clarkson. f ^'roud. + Peim's letter to Harrison, 23d Sep- 

tember, 168:5. § Proud. (1) See Note T, Appendix. 



1686] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 89 

in mercy only he forbore to resume.* But the people were 
not without apology. They believed the proprietary abun- 
dantly rich. He had sold lands to the value of twenty thou- 
sand pounds, which yielded a quit-rent of five hundred pounds 
sterling per annum. Contrasting the ample possessions of 
the landlord, with the j)ittance they found it difficult to pay, 
they considered the demand of his rents, enforced by the 
sheriff, as cruel and unjust; their own necessities closing their 
eyes to the pressure of his wants and the legality of his 
claims. (1) 

For their political errors they were entitled to greater in- 
dulgence. However great the discoveries, and extended the 
knowledge, of the proprietary, in political science, his follow- 
ers and immediate agents could not all boast like acquire- 
ments. The lives of the statesmen of Pennsylvania, antece- 
dently to the settlement, were not devoted to such studies. 
Merchants, agriculturists, mechanics, and labourers, had nei- 
ther time nor opportunity to investigate abstract principles, 
nor to tiace their practical application; and, being chiefly 
Quakers, their zeal for a new religion absorbed their ener- 
gies. After their emigration, the government, the country, 
and their circumstances, were altogether new. Difficulties 
too trivial to relate, yet sufficient to embarrass an unpractised 
administration, constant!}- presented themselves. And it is 
highly probable, that the habitual morality of the colonists, 
and the necessity of close application to labour, were as ef- 
ficient causes in promoting the peace and happiness of the 
province, as its excellent laws, or the wisdom of their admi- 
nistration. This want of political experience, in minds ex- 
cited by the novelty of their situation, might engend'er fears 
and jealousies which would extend even to the proprietary, 
and lead to acts that were ungrateful to him. 

The negligence of their duties, by the greater part of the 
council, their disagreement, and other inconveniences, result- 
ing from a multiform executive, induced the proprietary to 
devolve his gubernatorial powers on five commissioners, any 



* Proud. (1) See Note U, Appendix. 

12 . 



90 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l6^S 



three of whom were empowered to act. He selected Tho- 
mas Lloyd, Nicholas Moore, James Claypoole, Robert Tur- 
ner, and John Eckley. His instructions to these, present a 
new view of his estimate of the proprietary power. His 
''Frame of government," though unquestionably a contract 
between himself and his people, he held to be the gift of his 
special grace, revocable at his pleasure, when he believed its 
conditions were broken; and the laws enacted with the con- 
sent of his deputies, void at his discretion.* These preten- 
sions, so hostile to liberty, prostrating at once the constitu- 
tion and laws, were borrowed from the dispensing power 
claimed by the Idng, and by him so fatally and liberally 
exercised. In conformity with these principles, he directed 
his commissioners, if dissatisfied with the council, to appoint 
others, though the charter gave their election to the people; 
to abrogate all laws passed since his departure from the pro- 
vince, though such power belonged to the crown only; and 
to search curiously for infractions of the charter, whether by 
the council or assembly.! The commissioners wisely kept 
their instructions secret, and refrained to enforce such parts as 
would inevitably have roused the indignation of t!»e assembly. 
From that body, at all times jealous of the council, and prompt 
to oppose its authority when the legality of its exercise was 
doubtful, the commissioners would not have escaped without 
severe animadversion had they attempted to overthrow the 
constitution. Their administration was prudent, steady, and 

efficient. 

The succeeding two years of tlic provincial history is bar- 
ren of interesting incident, except an alarm of Indian hosti- 
lity, which produced a short but violent agitation. Two Indian 
women of New Jersey informed a Dutch resident of Ches- 
ter, that the Indians had conspired to destroy the white 
inhabitants. On the niglit of the day predicted for the in- 
surrection, a messenger from the woods arrived at Ches- 
ter, with information that three families, nine miles distant, 
had been butchered by l!ic savages. Several persons im- 
mediately proceeded to the place, and found the houses 
» I'roud. t Penn's insl. Frond. 



3689] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 91 

deserted, but without any marks of violence; their tenants, 
having themselves been alarmed by the report of hostili- 
ties, had fled to the d\vellin<i;s of their parents at Ridley 
creek. Rumour soon gave the most frightful form to the 
news. It was reported in Philadelphia that five hundred 
armed Indians were collected at Naaman's creek, resolved on 
indiscriminate slaughter. A messenger despatched for intel- 
ligence, confirmed the report, with the variation, that the 
warriors v/ere at an Indian town on the Brandywine river, 
whence they had removed their king, who was lame, and their 
women and children, that they might be secure from the 
perils of battle. Many of the Quakers, relying upon the 
justice and humanity which had been observed towards the 
Indians, refused credence to these reports; and Caleb Pusey,a 
member of the council, then in session, ofTered to proceed to 
the village, if five others would accompany him, unarmed. 
His proposal was instantly accepted. On the arrival of the 
deputies at the wigwam, they beheld every where the sem- 
blance of peace. The king was lying quietly in his bed, the 
women were at work in the fields, and the children at play 
round the doors. With some surprise, the chief demanded 
the cause of their visit, and, having learned the report, he 
expressed great indignation against its authors, and declared 
that his people had no cause of complaint against the whites; 
w^ho owed him fifteen pounds, it was true, for lands bought 
by the proprietarv, which he expected would be paid when 
they should be settled: he concluded, by advising the de- 
puties to attend to their harvest, then ripe, without fear of 
the Indians, who intended them no harm.* 

Thomas Lloyd, to whom the proprietary had given his 
unreserved confidence, growing weary of political labours, 
solicited permission, which was reluctantly granted, to retire 
from the cares of government. Dissatisfied with a plural 
executive, he recommended the appointment of a single de- 
puty. Penn, unable to find among the Quakers an indivi- 
dual qualified to perform the duties of lieutenant-governor, 

*' Proud. 



92 HISTORY OF PENNSTLVANIA. [l689 

who would accept the office, was willing to try whether a 
stranger, one having no familiar intercourse with the colo- 
nists, might not inspire them with greater reverence than 
they had hitherto felt for his substitutes,* His choice fell 
on captain John Blackwell, formerly an officer of Crom- 
well, under whom he had earned a distinguished reputa- 
tion in England and Ireland. t He was in New England 
when he received his commission, dated twenty-fifth of July, 
1688, which was sent him on the assurance of his wife, a 
daughter of general I^jambert, that it would be accepted. 

The instructions to Blackwell were more honourable to 
the proprietary than those to his commissioners, and evince 
a spirit chastened by the misfortunes of himself and the king. 
He directed that the government should be administered in 
his name, by the style of his patent only, "absolute proprie- 
tary of Pennsylvania;" that all commissions signed by him 
in Europe should be confirmed by the seal of the province ; 
that a copy of the laws, for which he had hitherto solicited 
in vain, should be sent to him; that speedy and impartial 
justice should be done to all; that fines should be apportioned 
to the offence and ability of the offender; that religious and 
national feuds should be prevented; that the rights of the 
widow, the orphan, and the absent, should be specially re- 
garded; that the sheriffs of the respective counties should 
collect his rents and fines, and give security for their pay- 
ment; that care should be taken to protect the people from 
imposition by the sheriffs and clerks of the peace, and that 
the magistrates should live soberly and peaceably; that the 
roads and highways should be made straight and commodious 
for travellers ; and that the governor should consider the best 
means to promote the prosperity of the province, and should 
report to him what existing laws were unnecessary, and what 
additional ones were requisite. * 

Blackwell's administration continued little more than a 
year, and was remarkable only for the discord which pre- 
vailed between him and the chief inhabitants. He impoliti- 

• Penn's letter. f Proud. 



1689] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 93 

cally endeavoured to establish a militia, and commenced an 
inquiry into the legality of the provincial trade with foreign 
countries, and, against the sense of the council, declared such 
trade inadmissible under the royal charter; but finally con- 
sented to refer the question to the decision of the proprietary. 
He persecuted and arrested White, the speaker of the pre- 
ceding assembly, who had been actively engaged in the pro- 
secution of Moore: he imprisoned and superseded David 
Lloyd, clerk of the supreme court, for refusing to deliver 
him the records, without the order of the judges: he re- 
fused to submit any new laws to the assembly, pleading 
the instructions of the proprietary to the commissioners in 
his justification : he alarmed the people by doubts of the 
constitutionality of the laws already enacted, and by suspend- 
ing them until they should be approved by the proprietary. 
These measures were extremely vexatious. They arrested 
the improvement of the country, and rendered every interest 
dependent upon the proprietary, who could not be timely con- 
sulted.* 

The assembly opposed a firm resistance to these unwar- 
rantable assumptions of power. They voted the arrest of 
White a breach of privilege: denounced the magistrate who 
had issued the process, and the sherifT who executed it, as 
traitors; insisted that the proprietary had revoked his instruc- 
tions to the commissioners; asserted the validity of the laws 
enacted pursuant to their charter, and denied the right of Penn 
to suspend or abrogate them; and, as a precautionary mea- 
sure against the abuse of the judicial power by the governor, 
the)'" resolved that no one empowered to receive any fine, or 
forfeiture, or revenue, should sit in any court, or any cause, 
in which a fine or forfeiture miajht accrue to him.t 

Unfortunately, the house did not continue true to itself. 
Blackwell, by intimidation or persuasion, succeeded in di- 
viding their councils. His party absented themselves from 
the assembly, from time to time, and finally left it without a 
quorum for business. Those who remained passed an indig- 

• Votes. t Ibid, 



94 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1689 

nant vote, charging the absentees with treason, in deserting 
their posts, after having condemned the conduct of the go- 
rernor, and the oHlicers engaged in the arrest of White and 
Lloyd; and they directed a warrant to be issued to all con- 
stables, commanding them to bring the magistrates and she- 
riffs, who had been concerned in such arrests, before the 
house. Thisjwarrant was never executed ; and the assembly, no 
longer able to collect a quorum, was compelled to separate. 

In his council the governor could neither preserve har- 
mony among the members, nor respect to himself. He re- 
quired of Thomas Lloyd, on occasion of temporary absence, 
to surrender the provincial seal, which was instantly refused. 
And soon after he impeached him of high crimes and misde- 
meanors, for having, as he alleged, encouraged the discon- 
tented, and for refusing to authenticate the acts of the 
government under the provincial seal. This seal Lloyd aver- 
red had been committed to him for life by the proprietary. 
The governor excluded Samuel Richardson from the council 
for having declared him to be a lieutenant only, and not a 
governor; he refused to receive the sheriff's returns of his 
re-election, on the ground that the election was void, and 
denied the right of the council to judge of the elections of its 
members; he arraigned Joseph Growden for publishing a 
printed copy of the frame of government, whicii he considered 
an offence against the state and the proprietary, who had, as 
the governor asserted, forbidden a resort to the press on sub- 
jects relating to the province. The meetings of the council 
were marked by heat and animosity. The governor's la- 
bours were opposed or unaided, and when driven to exercise 
his authority, his commands were frequently contemned. 
His manners did not accord with those of the people; a 
soldier, his demeanour was light and courtly, strongly con- 
trasting with the grave carriage of the principal colonists ; 
nor did the ungrateful task, which the proprietary had im- 
posed upon him, of collecting his quit rents, serve to conci- 
liate the affections of the people. Disliked by all parties, 
but not censured by the proprietary,. he was recalled, and the 



1689] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 95 

government devolved on the council, over which Thomas 
Lloyd again presided. 

David Lloyd, who had been removed from office, and im- 
prisoned by the late governor, for resistance to his commands, 
had arrived in the province in the early part of the year 
1686, and was commissioned attorney-general by William 
Penn on the twenty-fourth of April of the year following. 
He was now elected clerk of the assembly, and devoting him- 
self to the interest of the people, soon became distinguished 
for zeal and ability in their cause. 

By the revolution of 16SS, which drove James from the 
throne, the proprietary lost all influence in the English court. 
His intimacy with that unhappy monarch covered him with 
dark suspicion. His religious and political principles were 
misrepresented; he was denounced as a catholic, a Jesuit of 
St. Omers, and a self-devoted slave to despotism, and was 
charged with conspiring the restoration of James. It is now 
unnecessary to disprove these accusations; for though his 
enemies caused him to be thrice examined before the privy 
council, and to give bail for his appearance in the king's 
bench, he was discharged by that court, no evidence appear- 
ing against him. The ties which bound him to Europe 
having been thus broken, he prepared to re-visit his province, 
accompanied by another colony of five hundred persons, 
which he had assembled. by publication of new proposals. A 
convoy was appointed by government for his protection, and 
he was on the eve of sailing, v/hen his enterprise was marred 
by another persecution.* A wretch, named Fuller, subse- 
quently declared infamous by parliament, and pilloried, ac- 
cused him, on oath, with being engaged in a conspiracy of the 
papists in Lancashire to raise a rebellion, and restore James 
to the crown. He narrowly escaped arrest on his return 
from the funeral of George Fox, the celebrated founder of 
the society of Friends. t Hitherto he had met his accusers 
with a courage worthy of his character and his innocence, yet 
such was his dread of the profligacy of the witness who now 

• Ebeling. Proud. f Clarkson. Smollet. 16th Jan. 1691. 



96 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1689 

appeared against him, that he deemed it prudent to seek re- 
tirement and privacy. His contemplated colony failed, and 
the expenses of its outfit were lost. 

The recall of Blackwell did not restore harmony to the 
province. Local attachments and jealousies had arisen to 
disturb the union of the province and territories. The pro- 
prietary had left to the council the choice of three modes of 
administering the executive power; by the whole council, by 
five commissioners, or by a deputy governor. The last was 
adopted, much against the will of the territories, which, assured 
that a provincial man would be chosen, dreaded partiality in 
the distribution of the offices. To prevent this, six members 
of council from the territories, convened, and in the absence 
of the other members and the president, appointed and com- 
missioned six judges. The regular council immediately pro- 
claimed this appointment surreptitious, illegal, and void. 
The territories had been long dissatisfied with their annexation 
to the province; they had sufiered by the transfer of the com- 
mercial business and. the custom house from Newcastle to 
Philadelphia, and they now complained that the taxes were 
unequal, and that much art was used by the provincial dele- 
gates to influence the governor in the appointment of officers 
forthelower counties, whilst they, unnoticed and disregarded, 
were compelled to aid in his support. Thomas Lloyd, on 
whom the choice of the council had fallen, endeavoured to 
remove this last cause of complaint, by declaring that he 
would accept no compensation for his services, unless at their 
special request. This, however, was not satisfactory. They 
required that the power of appointing territorial officers 
should be vested in the territorial delesrates, and that five 
commissioners should be substituted for the deputy governor. 
These demands were refused, and the negotiation terminated 
in the dissolution of the union.* Lloyd continued to govern 
the province, and Markham, who had supported the territo- 
ries in all their measures, was chosen their lieutenant-gover- 
nor. The proprietary reluctantly confirmed this change. He 

• 1691. Proud. 



1691 J HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 97 

animadverted severely upon the conduct of Lloyd, to whom, 
in the anguish of his heart, he ascribed irregular and ungo- 
vernable ambition, which, refusing an honour when proffered, 
sought it subsequently, through a breach of the charter and a 
change of the government. Lloyd, however, was reinstated 
in his confidence by a letter from the council, declaring that 
he had accepted the commission, only on the importunity of 
his friends, and the earnest request of the whole province. 

Immediately after the dissolution of the union the assembly 
of the province passed an act, with a preamble, exculpatory of 
the council, declaring the integrity of the province, and their 
efficiency to legislate for it; and re-enacted all the laws then 
in force. To remove the apprehensions of the proprietary, 
both governments assured him of their satisfaction in the 
change. 

In the province, as elsewhere, the Quakers had been dis- 
tinguished for union, temperance, and toleration. But a reli- 
gious schism now shook their church to its foundation, and 
injured the reputation of the civil government. George Keith, 
a native of Scotland, distinguished for learning and talents, 
had many years been an active and zealous teacher among 
*' Fiiends." Firm under persecution, acute and ingenious in 
debate, he had by his sufferings and writings acquired great 
and merited influence with the society. On the establish- 
ment of a charity school at Philadelphia in 16S9, he was 
called from New Jersey to superintend it. This situation he 
soon abandoned, and devoted himself with renewed zeal, but 
not with his usual success, to the work of the ministry. With 
the increase of years his faith became intolerant, his disci- 
pline austere, his manners rude, and his language vituperative. 
He condemned many rules of practice among his sect, pro- 
posed new regulations, and denounced the doctrine professed 
and propagated by approved ministers, and which he had 
hitherto advocated. He denied in paiticular the sufficiency 
to salvation of the Holy Spirit, without the aid of the gospel; 
and with a fanaticism which struck at the root of the proprie- 
tary power, he declared it unlawful for Quakers to engage in 
the administration of government, and more especially in the 
13 



gg HISTORT OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l692 

execution of the penal law. To lus brethren he was captious 
and supercilious; treating theirremonstrances with contumely, 
and assailing their persons and church with indecorous epi- 

thets * 

His conduct induced the society of "Friends," after re- 
peated monitions, to expel him from their communion, by a 
formal and public testimony of denial. This act of the meet- 
ing, although approved by many of the most considerable 
men in the province, was condemned by others not less re- 
spectable. The latter segregated with Keith, held church 
meetings, and claiming to be the true church, boldly de- 
nounced the former as apostates. Treason and heterodoxy, 
however, are of one genus, and exist only in the minority of 
the state, or religious society. Consequently, Keith's oppo- 
nents, having as well the government as the churches and 
the -reater number of adherents, are justly to be considered 
the orthodox, and himself and his followers as lapsed from 
the fold. If there be a doubt on this head, it must be removed 
by the decision of the yearly meeting at London; which, hav- 
ing appellate jurisdiction from that at Philadelphia, after full 
hearing of the parties, confirmed the denial. Thus irrevoca- 
bly disowned, Keith became a violent enemy, took orders in 
the established church, and returned to America as its mis- 
sionary. He, some years afterwards, died, outwardly at 

least, an episcopalian. , ,, , • j 

This affair, although important to "Friends," and viewed 

by them, until late events, as the greatest disturbance in 

their society, merits historical notice by its consequences 

only. The intemperance of Keith did not permit him to 

discriminate between the Quakers as rulers of a nation, and 

as members of a religious sect. His anathemas were hurled 

alike against the magistrate and elder. That tenet o( the 

*< Friends" which forbids the use of arms, he carried to a 

length deemed extravagant even among them; forbidding 

force in the apprehension of criminals. An occasion offered 

for inveighing strongly on this subject. A person named 

• Proud. Ebellng. 



16921 HISTOKY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 99 

Babit, with others, stole a sloop from the wharf at Philadel- 
phia, and in their passage down the river committed many- 
robberies. A warrant was issued in the nature of a hue and 
cry, on which they were apprehended and brought to justice. 
The force used to arrest them, though not more than is 
ordinarily exercised on such occasions, was censured by Keith 
as unchristian and incompatible with the Quaker charac- 
ter. In apamphlet,entitled the "Pleaof the Innocent," written 
in conjunction with a certain Thomas Budd, printed by Wil- 
liam Bradford, and published by John M'Comb, he accused 
Samuel Jennings ^' with being too high and imperious in 
worldly courts," and styled him "an impudent, presump- 
tuous, and insolent man." In a controversy with governor 
Lloyd, in church meeting, he called him "an impudent man, 
and a pitiful governor," asking him " why he did not send 
him to jail," declaring " that his back had long itched for a 
whipping, and that he would print and expose them all over 
America, if not in Europe." Another of the magistrates he 
called an impudent rascal. 

These seditious words were held worthy of punishment. 
Bradford and M'Comb were apprehended, and for contempt 
of court, on their examination, and refusal to find sureties for 
their appearance, were committed. They were not ordered 
into close confinement; for, wishing to date a paper from the 
prison, they endeavoured to obtain admittance; but being 
prevented, they signed it in the hall, common to the prison 
and the house adjoining.* The license of M'Comb,who was 
a publican, was taken from him, as a punishment for his 
offence, though no conviction was had; and Bradford having 
been once brought to trial, and the jury being unable to agree 
upon a verdict, was subsequently discharged. 

Keith and Budd, who were prosecuted by indictment, 
framed on the 32 cap. of the great law, for their defamation 
of Jennings, were convicted and sentenced to pay five pounds 
each; but these fines were never collected. 



VvK. 



* Keith's Journal. Proud. ^ 



loo HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1692 

A religious society may justly cast from its bosom a schis- 
matic, who indecorously censures its practices, and violently 
assails its leaders; but in Pennsylvania, the secular arm could 
not be constitutionally raised to chastise heresy. Keith and 
his followers charged the government with religious intole- 
rance, and in Europe this transaction was painted in the 
darkest colours. The character of the Quakers was grossly 
misrepresented. They were accused of hypocrisy in their 
civil and religious conduct, and were cited as an additional 
instance of the effect of power to subvert the principle of re- 
ligious toleration. The confidence of the persecuted in Europe 
was lessened, and emigration to the province decreased. 

The magistrates published a vindication of their conduct. 
They enumerated the ofi'ences of Keith, dwelt upon their 
probable consequences, and expatiated on the patience with 
which they had borne his religious excesses. They urged 
strongly the disastrous results flowing from his doctrine, 
touching the unlawfulness for Quakers to conduct the civil 
government, disqualifying the proprietary, and annulling 
every act of the government since its foundation. 

It will he remarked, that of the offences of Keith, one, ap- 
parently the least considerable, was selected for prosecution. 
His de])ortment to the governor, and his publication of prin- 
ciples hostile to the proprietary's authority, were passed over, 
whilst his insolence to Jennings, only, was laid in the indict- 
ment. This may give some colouring to the allegation, that 
he was the victim of personal and sectarian animosity, as Jen- 
nings was his distinguished opponent in the church. But, in 
fact, abusive carriage towards magistrates was an oflTence of 
great enormity, and subject to a more grievous penalty than 
the other offences charged upon him. The Quakers held 
government to be an ordinance of the Deity, and its ministers 
entitled to the most profound respect. The assembly had at 
no time suffered an abuse of this principle to pass unpunished. 
For light offences of this kind it had expelled its own mem- 
bers, and had preferred complaints to the council against 
others. liesides, circumstances, at this time particularly, 
called for dcnionstralions of firnincss on the part of the go- 



1693] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 101 

vernment. Its peace had been much disturbed by the late 
dispute with the territories; and insubordination was highly 
alarming to men who, forbidden by their consciences to bear 
arms, must sustain their authority by public opinion. If the 
motives which directed this prosecution were pure, no doubt 
ought to exist of the propriety of Keith's conviction. He 
had broken an established law of the province, was tried by 
the laws, and his sentence was less severe than they would 
have warranted. *(1) 

Whatever were the motives of the government, it is certain 
its conduct was not approved by the proprietary. He fore- 
saw that these dissentions would give the crown an excuse to 
strip him of his province. t His fears were soon verified. 
William and Mary seized with avidity this opportunity to 
punish him, for his attachment to the late king; and they 
were well pleased to clothe an act of naked power with such 
justification as the disorders of the province presented, f 

Their majesties' commission to Benjamin Fletcher, gover- 
nor-general of New York, constituting him governor of 
Pennsylvania and the territories, was notified to Thomas 
Lloyd on the nineteenth of April. There was no notice, in 
this commission, of William Penn, nor of the provincial con- 
stitution. Fletcher was empowered to summon the general 
assembly elected by the freeholders, to require its members 
to take the oaths and subscribe the tests prescribed by act of 
parliament, and to make laws in conjunction with the assem- 
bly, he having a veto upon their acts; and was directed 
to transmit copies of such laws, for the approbation of the 
crown, within three months from their enactment. Official 
information of this change was not given to the constituted 
authorities of the province, either by the king or proprietary; 
yet on the arrival of colonel Fletcher at Philadelphia, the 
government was surrendered to him without objection; but 
most of the Quaker magistrates refused to accept from 
him the renewal of their commissions. § The proprietary 

•Proud. Pamphlets. Clarkson. (1) See Note X, Appendix, 

t Penn's letter, Oct. 1693. Proud. i Clarkson. § Minutci 

of Council. 



10? HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [169? 

condemned this ready abandonment of his rights, and ad- 
ilressed a cautionary letter to Fletcher, warning him of the 
illegality of his appointment; which might have restrained 
the latter from exercising his authority, had it been timely 
received, as he was attached to Penn, by personal favours.* 

• Proud. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Fletcher re-unites the province and territories* •••Demands 
money from the province to aid in securing the frontiers of 
New York against the Indians and French* •••The w^ar be- 
tween England and France extends to America* •••Proceed- 
ings of the assembly^ •••Markham appointed deputy-governor 
under Fletcher^^^^Assembly asserts its right to sit upon its 
own adjournments, and to originate bills^ •••Fletcher de- 
mands further pecuniary aid^^^^The province restored to 
Penn^^^^Death and character of Thomas LIoyd**^^Adminis- 
tration of governor Markham under Penn^^»^New constitu- 
tion^^^'State of the province^^^^Buccaneers in the Delaware 
• •••The province accused of giving them protection. 

* 

Governor Fletcher, regardless of the animosities which 
had disunited the colonists, summoned the representatives of 
the province and territories to meet in one assembly. Nei- 
ther the charter nor laws were regarded in the summons. 
The time and forms of the election were changed, and the 
number of members was diminished, notwithstanding a spi- 
rited remonstrance from the former council, who asserted 
that their constitution and laws had been confirmed by the 
king and queen, and were obligatory on the governor. 

When the legislature assembled, the greater part of the 
members, pleading their conscientious scruples, refused to 
take the oaths, and the governor permitted them to subscribe 
simply, the declarations and tests required by the act of par- 
liament for liberty of conscience, protesting that this indul- 
gence should not be made a precedent for the future. 

Pursuant to his instructions, Fletcher demanded aid in men 
or money to secure the frontiers of New York against the 
hostilities of the French and Indians; and as that province 
covered all the English settlements to the south, she had an 



104 HISTOHY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1698 

obvious claim on Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, for 
assistance. The war, wiiich now extended to the colonies, 
was declared by England against France immediately after 
the accession of William and Mary. Count Frontignac, go- 
vernor of Canada, hastened to assail the English; and exciting 
the northern savages to the most barbarous cruelties upon 
their out settlements, set the example of that execrable 
policy which is an indelible stain upon the French and Eng- 
lish nations. In 1690 one partyofFrenchandlndians surprised 
and destroyed Schenectady, on the Mohawk river; another 
seized a post at the Salmon Falls, on the Piscataqua, and 
soon after, under the Sieur Hurtel, attacked and levelled the 
fort at Casco, in Massachusetts. These inroads were followed 
by an active, but desultory border warfare, in which New 
York and the New England colonies were principally en- 
gaged. Both parties sedulously sought the friendship of the 
Mengwe or Five nations, which was finally secured to the 
English, after many conferences, and greatexpense in presents. 
To propitiate these tribes, the subsidy now asked of Pennsyl- 
vania was to be appropriated.* 

Instead of giving an immediate and drrect reply to the 
governor's demand, the assembly set themselves to ascertain 
and define his authority under his commission. They re- 
solved, that their constitution and laws, founded on the char- 
ter to the proprietary, were still in force, and that they had 
the right to require their confirmation by the governor: and 
assured him, when this should be done, they would comply 
with his requisition to the extent of their power. They 
afiected to ascribe the change of government solely to the 
absence of the proprietary; but the governor assured them 
that was the least cause of their majesties' measures; and to 
their own mal-administration, their neglect to defend the pro- 
vince against the enemy, and the consequent danger of its 
loss, they might attribute his appointment. He further told 
them, that the royal government, and that of the proprietary, 
were inconsistent with each other; and that he should consider 



Votes. 



1693] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 105 

their adherence to the latter, however disguised, as full 
evidence of their hostility to the former.* 

This was a view which the house might reasonably dread; 
since neither their nor the proprietary's conduct was marked 
with zeal for the revolution; and, until the arrival of Fletcher, 
their majesties' authority had never been publicly acknow- 
ledged. The assembly, therefore, availed itself of this op- 
portunity to declare their devotion to William and Mary; but 
they repelled the charge of mal-administration, and denied, 
that there was any danger of the loss of the province, or that 
the present government was opposed to that established by 
the proprietary, although the executive authority was tempo- 
rarily taken from his hands. The governor, unwilling to 
enter upon further altercation, and, perhaps, satisfied of the 
correctness, as well as firmness, of the assembly, complied 
with their request for confirming the laws, and published a 
proclamation for that purpose. The assembly, now disposed 
to show their affection to their majesties, passed a bill, im- 
posing a tax of one penny per pound on the clear value of real 
and personal estate, and a poll tax of six shillings per head, 
which they presented to the king and queen, praying that 
one-half might be given to the governor. But Fletcher, dis- 
satisfied that nothing had been done, directly to aid New 
York, refused this bill, with others which had been sent to 
him, and threatened to annex the province to that govern- 
ment.! This threat produced a very humble petition, that 
he would condescend to inform them which of the bills he 
would accept, amend, or reject, that they might dispose them- 
selves to acquiesce in his pleasure, or to offer reasons in their 
support. But this spirit was instantly changed, when he indi- 
cated a disposition to enact the laws with his amendments, with- 
out further consulting the house. They sent him an animated 
resolution, asserting their right to pass on all amendments to 
their bills before they became laws. And a protest, drawn by 
David Lloyd, was signed by many of the members, declaring 
the retention of the bills unlawful, and that, before any bill of 

* Votes. f Proud. 

14 



106 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1694 



supply should be definitively passed, their grievances must 
be redressed. These measures produced a happy effect. Most 
of the bills were approved, and such as were not, were re- 
turned for amendment. Among the former, was the money 
bill; which produced above seven hundred and sixty pounds; 
an act for the education of youth, and another establishing a 
post-office. A bill, for organizing a militia, passed the first 
reading, but was negatived upon the second.* 

Nothing more strongly indicates Bletcher's respect for the 
proprietary, and conviction that his exclusion was tempo- 
rary, than the confirmation of all the laws in force at the 
issuing of the royal commission, and the appointment of 
Markham deputy-governor. 

The assembly was at all times ready to extend their own 
power, and to circumscribe that of the executive. At the 
instance of David Lloyd, now a member, they availed them- 
selves of the easy disposition of Markham, and indifference 
of Fletcher, to wrest from them, the power of prorogation, 
and to resume the right of originating bills, which, though 
not given by the constitution, had been assumed by the second 
provincial assembly, but had been for a long time suspended. 
And, though Penn had explicitly denied this right, they 
henceforth exercised it in its full extent.t 

Governor Fletcher, being engaged at New York, did not 
meet the assembly at its first session of this year: At the 
second, he earnestly solicited them to make further appro- 
priations for the public defence. He endeavoured to excite 
their emulation by the example of New Jersey, which had 
freely contributed troops and money, and tried to engage their 
compassion, by describing the sufferings of the inhabitants 
about Albany, from whence " fourscore families," he said, 
<'had been driven, rather by the negligence of their friends, 
than by the force of their enemies." Experience having 
taught him, that it was vain to ask men, whose religion for- 
bade the use of arms, to organize a military force, or appro- 
priate funds for its support, he sought to frame his demands 

* Votes. t Penn's letter to commissioneri. 



1694] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 107 

in a less questionable shajje. Putting out of view all warlike 
intentions, he solicited their charity *• to feed the hungry and 
clothe the naked," by supplying the* Indian nations with 
such necessaries as might influence them to continue their 
friendship to theprovince. But even these instances proved 
powerless. For, although another tax, similar to the last, 
was voted, no part of it was appropriated to the war or relief 
of the Indians. As a considerable sum had been given to 
Fletcher, justice demanded tiiat the services of the proprie- 
tary deputies should also be rewarded. The house, therefore, 
directed two hundred pounds each should be given to Mark- 
ham and Lloyd, and that the balance to be raised by the bill 
should defray the general expenses of the government. Fletch- 
er rejected their bill, because the whole sum was not granted 
to their majesties, with a request that they would appropriate 
it to the use of the deputies, and to the defence of New 
York and Albany; and the house, refusing to modify it, and 
asserting their right to appropriate their money at their plea- 
sure, was dissolved. The proprietary, wliose political views 
were rarely obscured by his religious principles, reprehended 
strongly this resolute refusal; nor was he blind to the effects 
which such opposition to the wisliesof the crown might have 
upon his particular interests.* 

The clouds of suspicion, which had long enveloped Wil- 
liam Fenn, were at length brolien. He had many friends 
among the nobles who suri-ounded the king, and his true 
character was at last made known to William. He was heard 
before the privy council, and honourably acquitted; and was 
restored to his proprietary rights by j)atent, dated August, 
1694, in which the disorders in the province were ascribed 
solely to his absence. His desire to return to Pennsylvania 
had now become ardent, but his pecuniary embarrassments' 
prevented its indulgence. He requested his friends in the 
province to loan him ten thousand pounds, to be raised by 
a hundred subscribers; but, failing to obtain this loan, and 
his wife becoming dangerously ill, he was compelled to post- 

• Penn's letter, 5th September, 1695. Proud. Clarkson. 



108 



HISTOUY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [169: 



pone his departure from England, and to appoint a deputy. 
The death of Thomas Lloyd* occasioned the appointment 

of Markham.t 

By the death of Thomas Lloyd, the proprietary and pro- 
vince lost an able and valued counsellor. He was of an an- 
cient and respectable family in Montgomeryshire, North 
Wales, and had been educated at the university of Oxford. 
His learning, wisdom, and affability, opened for him a path 
to distinction and fortune in his native country. But, hav- 
ing attached himself to the society of Friends, the persecu- 
tions he endured, led him to seek an asylum with the early 
settlers of Pennsylvania. Meek and unostentatious, he shrunk 
from public employment, and, though in office from the foun- 
dation of the colony, he served with reluctance, and only at 
the earnest solicitation of the proprietary and his fellow citi- 
zens. A mild and firm minister, a virtuous and unassuming 
citizen, distinguished for his love of piety and decorum, he 
died surrounded by his friends, rejoicing in the life he had 
lived, without complaining of death, or expressing a hope or 

fear of futurity. + . , 

Markham assumed, that the suspension of the proprietary s 
authority had annulled the constitution, and that when the 
province was restored to him, it was subject to his will, as it 
had been to that of the king. On this principle, he convened 
the assembly without regard to the charter. No complaint 
was made, on the part of the house, relative to this course. 
Contemplating a change in some of the most important fea- 
tures of the constitution, they considered it impolitic and in- 
consistent to condemn its infraction by others. Availing 
themselves of an opportunity, presented by another demand 
to aid New York, they connected with a bill of supply a bill 
of settlement, or project for a new frame of government. 
This plan, supported by the public voice, Markham was un- 
wiUin- to negative, yet he feared to sanction it without the 
consent of the proprietary. In this dilemma, he resolved to 
dismiss the assembly, and, to avoid their solicitation and re- 

* 10th July. t 24th November. + Proud. Clarkson. 



16963 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 109 

proof, he gave them no previous intimation of his design. 
But this step afforded him a momentary relief only; for the 
next assembly assailed him with remonstrances on his breach 
of the charter, reminded him of his promise to protect their 
rights, and, finally, prevailed with him to assent to their bill 
of settlement, subject to revocation by the proprietary, on 
condition that they would raise the sum of three hundred 
pounds for the use of the Indians at Albany. This money, 
being immediately vvanted,.was procured on loan, under a 
vote of the house; and thus, what the prayers and threats of 
Fletcher failed to extort, was yielded to the stronger induce- 
ments of interest. Markham's assent may be ascribed to 
his wish of redeeming the pledge which the proprietary had 
given to the king, that his province should contribute to the 
general defence of the colonies.* 

The new constitution was more democratic than the former 
one. The council, chosen biennially, consisted of two, and 
the assembly, elected annually, of four, members from each 
county. The right of the latter to originate bills, to sit on 
its own adjournments, and to be indissoluble during the term 
for which it was elected, was explicitly established ; and 
the powers and duties of the several officers were accurately 
defined. This instrument was never formally sanctioned by 
the proprietary, and it continued in force only until his ar- 
rival in the province, in 1699. Under it the people were 
content, and calmly and industriously applied themselves to 
the improvement of the country. And their best eulogium 
is the paucity of material for history, which their annals for 
several years afibrd. The governor made another attempt, 
unsuccessfully, to obtain money for military purposes; the 
assembly pleaded the poverty of their constituents, but pro- 
fessed their readiness, in future, to obey the commands of the 
king, not incompatible with their ability and religious per- 
suasion.! 

The glory which the bravery and success of the bucca- 
neers had shed upon the practice of piracy, had filled the 

• Votes. t Ibid. 



IIQ HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1697 

American seas with bold and unprincipled adventurers, many 
of whom sailed under commissions from the belligerents of 
Europe. Regardless of their allegiance, they attacked and 
plundered, indiscriminately, friend and foe. Driven from 
the south, after the sack of Carthagena, by Pointis, a French 
naval commander, they infested the northern seas. Their 
number was augmented from the unquiet spirits set at liberty 
by the general pacification at Ryswick, who sought to sup- 
port a life of libertinism by levying contributions upon all 
nations. The shores and bay of the river Delaware offered 
these marauders convenient and safe harbourage, rendered 
more secure by the pacific principles of the inhabitants of 
Pennsylvania. These circumstances gave some colour to 
charges against the province, of countenancing illegal trade, 
piracy, and general corruption of manners. This evil re- 
port attracted much attention in Europe, and was even cre- 
dited by the proprietary, who earnestly required his people 
to find instant remedies for such disorders. The governor 
and council published a proclamation, repelling the accusa- 
tions against their own citizens, but admitting that the cen- 
tral situation of their city subjected it to the visits of evil 
disposed persons, whose conduct at the ordinaries and drink- 
ing-houses, sometimes violated the regulations of the police. 
They enjoined upon the magistrates the strictest execution 
of the laws of navigation and trade, and the statutes against 
piracy, and the utmost diligence in the suppression of loose 
and disorderly living. This measure was not sufficient to 
satisfy the proprietary, nor to remove the suspicion of others. 
The legislature, at its next session, on the suggestion of Penn^, 
enacted more severe penalties against piracy, and illicit trade.* 
The eagerness of the assembly, to acquit the province of all 
participation in these crimes, led them also to expel from 
their house, a certain James Brown, a member from Kent, 
upon suspicion of his having encouraged piratical practices. 
So far was the province from profiting by this lawless race, 



• VotCB. 



1698J HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. Ill 

as was falsely supposed, the inhabitants frequently suffered 
from their depredations. They plundered Lewistown, and 
inspired such terror, that a watch was kept on Cape Henlo- 
pen, to give notice through the sheriffs, from county to county, 
of the approach of suspicious vessels, in order to prevent / 
surprise. / 



CHAPTER VII. 

Penn returns to the province--««Yellow fever* •••Convenes the 
assembly — Disputes with the territories — Slaves and ne- 
groes^'-'Intercourse Avith the Indians- •• -The king requires 
the province to grant funds for the fortifications at New 
York----Atterapt to change the proprietary to royal govern- 
ments- •• -Disputes with assembly relating to the concessions 
..--Incorporation of Philadelphia- ---New constitution---- 
Appointment of council- ---Andrew Hamilton deputy-gover- 
Tior----Departure of the proprietary for Europe---- Adminis- 
tration of Hamilton-- --By his death the government devolves 
on the council----The royal assent made necessary to the 
appointment of the deputy-governors. 

The proprietary having at length surmounted the obstacles 
interposed by his private affairs and his religious engagements, 
embarked, with his wife and family, for the province, at 
Cowes, in August, with the avowed determination of spend- 
ino- the remainder of his life in Pennsylvania. He arrived in 
the Delaware on the last day of November. (1) 

That grievous epidemic, the yellow fever, had just ceased 
its ravages. No detailed account of its devastations has been 
handed down to us; but the distress and consternation it pro- 
duced is eloquently described by Thomas Story, who wit- 
nessed its progress. " Great," says he, " was the majesty 
and the hand of the Lord. Great was the fear that fell upon 
all flesh. I saw no lofty nor airy countenance, nor heard any 
vain jesting to move men to laughter; nor witty repartees to 
raise mirth; nor extravagant feasting to excite the lusts and 
desires of the flesh above measure; but every face gathered 
paleness, and many hearts were humbled, and countenances 

(1) See Note Y, Appendix. 



1700] 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 113 



fallen and sunk, as of those who waited every moment to he 
summoned to the bar, and numbered to the grave." 

As the existing- constitution had not received the approba- 
tion of Penn, he did not hold himself bound by its provisions, 
but summoned by his writ, three members for the council, and 
SIX for the assembly, from each county. Hut the assembly, 
then ,n session, having learned his determination, endea'v- 
oured to take from it the impress of absolute power, and (o 
guard against its being drawn into precedent, by procuring 
an entry to be made upon the nnnutes of both chambers 
declaring that this measure was adopted with their advice' 
and consent. Yet the proprietary called another assembly 
in this year, which consisted of four members only from each 
county, and of this number the house was composed for the 
two succeeding years.* 

The legislature, during the year 1700, was engaged in re- 
v.s.ng their laws, and discussing the draught of another con- 
stitution. But their labours were disturbed by the renewal 
of he jealousies of the territories; which, claiming an inte- 
gral political character, and holding their union with the 
province dissoluble at pleasure, were no longer willing to 
form a subdivision of Pennsylvania. Conceding to the crown 
he right to prescribe their form of government, they refused 
to recognise in the proprietary any political power which did 
not anse from mutual compact. The rapid growth of the 
province, they perceived, would soon place them in joint 
legislation at her discretion; and they insisted upon having 
at all times an equal representation in the assembly. This 
proposal was unanimously rejected by the province, and an 
immediate separation was prevented, only, by an ac^reement 
suggested by the proprietary, that no iJlffLin, tlie paKi- 
cular interests of the territories, should be enacted without 
he consent of two-thirds of their members, and a majority of 
those of the province. This was no sooner settled than a 
new dispute arose upon the question of a maintainance for the 
governor. Both parties admitted the propriety of a tax, but 



• Votes, 
15 



lU 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1700 



the territories refused to contribute in the same ratio with the 
province. A largess of two thousand pounds was granted to 
the proprietary, of which the province assumed to pay more 
than three-fifths. Further to conciliate the lower counties, 
the wages of the members of the two former assemblies, and 
of the present house, were paid from the provincial instead of 
the several county funds, as formerly. 

The slave trade, now so infamous, that its abolition has 
become a principle of national morality in Christendom, was 
tolerated in Pennsylvania under the specious pretence of the 
religious instruction of the slave. Yet the German " Friends," 
settled at Germantown so early as 1688, presented a protest 
drawn by Daniel F. Pastorius, to the yearly meeting, then held 
in Burlington, against the "buying, selling, and holding men 
in slavery, as inconsistent with the christian religion." But 
on this important subject that meeting was unprepared to act, 
and declared it " not proper then to give a positive judgment 
in the case." In 1696 the yearly meeting discouraged the 
further importation of slaves, and adopted measures for their 
moral improvement. In the same year George Keith and 
his friends denounced the institution of slavery "as contrary to 
the religion of Christ, the rights of man, and sound reason 



j>* 



and policy. 

The proprietary now procured a system, regulatmg the 
treatment of slaves, to be incorporated in the discipline of the 
society, thereby alleviating the situation of those whose mas- 
ters were not yet convinced of the iniquity of slavery. Al- 
though these measures could not abolish the horrid traffic, 
they discouraged the wealthy and respectable inhabitants 
from prosecuting it, and fostered a spirit of humanity, which 
led to the moral, religious, and physical improvement of the 
slave. To the dictates of philanthropy Penn endeavoured to 
give the force of law. He proposed to the assembly two bills; 
one regulating the marriages of negroes; rightly judging that 
connubial ties and domestic affections, promoted by the inhi- 

. Minutes of yearly meefm.?, Watson's MS. collection. Bettle's notices 
of negro slavery, Min. Fenn. Hist. Society. 



1700] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 115 

bition of promiscuous sexual intercourse, were the most effi- 
cient means to establish pure morals; the other, establishing a 
mode for the trial and punishment of the offences of slaves, 
substituting the judgment of the law for the will of their 
masters. The latter of these bills only received the legislative 
sanction. It is difficult to assign reasons for the rejection of 
the former. Its provisions could not reduce the value of 
slaves as property, nor license insubordination. Perhaps the 
existing laws against incontinence were deemed adequate to 
restrain the improprieties the bill was designed to remedy.* 
The proprietary also endeavoured, though unsuccessfully, 
to obtain additional legislative restrictions upon the inter- 
course with the Indians, in order to j)rotect them from the arts of 
the whites. Nor was he more happy in his renewed exertions 
to instruct the aborigines in the doctrines of Christianity; 
their language, according to the report of the interpreter, not 
affording terms to convey its mysteries. This reason, how- 
ever, was not well founded, and was the subterfuge of the 
agent to cover his own ignorance or indolence. The success 
of the venerable Elliot, and of the Moravian missionaries, 
has proven, that the Indian language is competent for the 
communication of the most abstract ideas. But, resolute to 
improve their temporal condition, Penn conferred frequently 
with the several nations of the province and its vicinity; 
visiting them familiarly in their forests, participating in their 
feasts and amusements, and entertaining them with much hos- 
pitality and state at his mansion at Pennsbury. He formed a 
new treaty with the Susquehanna, the Shawanese, the Gana- 
wese, and tribes of the Five nations. This treaty provided 
for perpetual peace and good offices between the parties, con- 
firmed to the Indians the benefits, and subjected them to the 
penalties of the English law, in their intercourse with the 
whites: It stipulated that both parties should refuse credence 
to unauthorized reports of hostility intended by either; That 
the Indians should neither aid nor suffer strange tribes to set- 
tle in any part of the province without permission from the 

* Ciarkson. Votes. 



,jg HISTOKY OF VENNSYLVANIA. [ 1 70 I 

oovcrnor: That no European should engage in the Indian 
Trade without the licenseof the government ; and lastly, that the 

sale of the lands lately made to the proprietary in the neigh- 
bourhood of the Conestoga should be confirmed.* In the spirit 
of thistreaty,the provincial council formed a company of traders 
exclusively authorized to conduct the Indian trade, and in- 
structed to repress the inebriety of the natives, and to impress 
upon them a sense of the christian religion by examples of 
probity and candour.! 

The king now required of the proprietary the fulfilment ol 
his promises, made at his restoration, by a provincial contri- 
bution of three hundred and fifty pounds towards completing 
the fortifications on the frontiers of New York. This demand 
embarrassed the proprietary and his people, as the money was 
avowedly to be employed for military purposes. His cUity 
to the crown could not be performed without an earnest effort 
to support the requisition, whilst his own conscience, and the 
respect due to the religious principles of his society, forbade 
him to urge the compliance of the assembly. That body pro- 
crastinated their answer, and asked of the proprietary a writ- 
ten copy of his message on this occasion; desirous to find in 
it some mode to extricate themselves from their perplexity. 
But he declined to place on record whatever arguments he 
may have offered to them, and resolved that they should be 
.olely responsible for their decision. Compelled at length to 
reply, they framed an address abounding in expressions ot 
loyalty, and declaratory of their readiness to obey the crown 
in all things consistent with their religious faith; but they 
pleaded their poverty, their quit-rents, their late pecuniary 
<.rants, and the inaction of the adjacent provinces, as an apo- 
Wy for postponing the further consideration of the kmg s 
letter to a period of greater emergency. This address the 
proprietary received without comment, and dissolved the as- 
sembly at their request, t . , • » ir 
In the midst of his zealous labours, Penn received intelli- 
gence from England, which compelled him to prepare for a 



Proud. 1 ll'"»- ^ '^ "^'^='- 



irOlJ HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. '117 

speedy return. Since the revolution, it had been a favourite 
measure of the crown to purchase the proprietary govern- 
ments in America. Jealousy of the power of these govern- 
ments had grown with their growth; and a bill was now 
before the lords to change them into regal ones. The friends 
of Penn, and others interested in the province, had succeeded 
with difficulty in obtaining a postponement of the bill until 
his return, which they earnestly represented to him should 
be immediate.* 

The necessity of his speedy departure hastened the meet- 
ing of the assembly.! The completion of a new constitution, 
and the enactment of such laws as required his special sanc- 
tion, made the session important and laborious. The address 
of the proprietary was most frank and conciliatory. He 
apologized for having summoned them before the customary 
time, expressed his regret at being so unseasonably called 
away, and assured them of his unceasing love and regard, 
"Think," said he, ^'therefore, (since all men are mortal,) of 
some suitable expedient and provision for your safety, as well 
in your privileges as property, and you will find me ready to 
comply with whatever may render us happy by a nearer 
union of our interest." Yet actuated by his duty to the 
crown, he again drew their attention to the king's demand 
for money, and mentioned a late treaty of peace, concluded 
with the Indians by the governor of New York in behalf of 
all the provinces, as worthy of their acknowledgments. The 
house replied to the address with grateful thanks, but refused 
the war contribution for the reasons already given. 

The cordiality which smiled on the opening of the session, 
did not preside over its deliberations. The inhabitants were 
disposed to hold the proprietary to the verj- letter of his 
proffer. They were desirous not only to secure their politi- 
cal liberties against the governor, his deputies, and successors, 
and to settle definitively all questions relating to the titles 
and boundaries of their lands, but were solicitous to obtain 
from Penn new and extraordinary concessions in regard to 

♦ Votes. Proud. Ebclitig, f September 15, 1701. 



118 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1701 

the latter. Certain petitions, presented by the inhabitants 
of Philadelphia, served as a basis for an address of twenty- 
one articles, from the house to the proprietary. As this 
address was the germ of a long and bitter controversy, it me- 
rits particular notice. It consisted of specific demands of 
political privileges, and territorial concessions. The former 
were all readily conceded, and the latter, four excepted, were, 
after much unpleasant discussion, either granted or retracted. 
We shall consider those which continued to be subjects of 
contention. 

I. In the surveys to the first emigrants, an allowance had 
been made, by the proprietary, of ten acres to the hundred 
for roads, uneven grounds, and errors of survey. Subsequent 
purchasers claimed this allowance also as a right. The situa- 
tion of every tract did not admit of such addition, and the 
surveyors sometimes omitted to embrace it where it might 
have been obtained. On re-survey, the deficiency appeared, 
and those who could not find vacant lands contiguous to their 
tracts, held the proprietary responsible, and claimed the al- 
lowance in payment for other purchases, or in money. An 
attempt was made to satisfy the claimants in the preceding 
year, by the passage of an act, giving to those whose sur- 
veys included so much, or more, the full ten per cent., and 
two per cent, to those who had the nett hundred. The in- 
equality of this provision was obvious, and the landholders 
were consequently dissatisfied. The assembly demanded the 
full ten per cent, on all lands then sold, and five per cent, on 
future sales. But the governor, conceiving the demand to 
rest on a mere custom which he had not sanctioned, refused 
it as an unreasonable exaction; but, anxious to conciliate, he 
proposed to grant six per cent, to all purchasers, without dis- 
crimination. Those who had the ten per cent, declined the 
])roposition, and lliose who had it not, adhered to their pre- 
tensions. This subject frequently engaged the attention of 
subsequent legislatures, and produced much altercation be- 
tween them and tlie lieutenant-governors, until the year 1712, 
when the allowance was fixed at six per centum by law. 
Although this act was negatived by the crown, at the instance 



1701] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 119 

of the proprietary, the custom was established, and continues 
to the present day.* 

The examination of this question of surplusage, though 
attended with much vexation, proved of pecuniary advantage 
to the proprietary. An act of assembly was passed, direct- 
ing a re-survey of all located lands, at the expense of Wil- 
liam Penn, within two years; and large quantities of land 
were found included in former surveys, not covered by the 
warrants, for which he justly exacted payment. But this ex- 
action was, most unreasonably, considered by some of the te- 
nants as hard and oppressive.! 

II. The pretension of the freeholders to a full participa- 
tion of the benefits, specially granted to the first purchasers, 
were not confined to the allowance for roads. The city lots, 
now rapidly increasing in value, were claimed as appendages 
to country purchases; and every holder of a farm demanded 
a city lot, of a size proportioned to the number of acres he 
possessed. 

III. The inhabitants of the city of Philadelphia required 
that the vacant town lots should remain in common, and that 
no leases should be made, under which they might be en- 
closed, unless their respective owners were prepared to build 
upon, or otherwise improve them; and that the islands ad- 
jacent to the city might be free to all, to collect therefrom 
winter sustenance for their cattle. Whilst these extravagant 
claims were advanced by the freemen of the province, those 
of the territories asked that the price of lands in their coun- 
ties should not be raised, and that future grants should be 
made at the original quit-rents. 

IV. In reserving the quit-rents, the proprietary intended 
not only to secure to himself a permanent revenue, but to 
preserve that connexion between the grantor and grantee 
which had been the soul of the feudal system, and which 
was still considered necessary, though all the incidents of 
that system, save fealty, escheat, and rent, frequently nomi- 
nal, had ceased. His quit-rents were originally one shilling 

• Votes. 2 Sm. L. P. f I-ogan MSS. Am. Phil. Soc, 



120 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1701 

the hundred acres, on lands granted to freemen, and six shil- 
lings the hundred on those granted to servants. They were 
subsequently advanced to one penny sterling per acre. The 
proprietary had once proposed to release these rents for a 
pecuniary consideration; his proposal was rejected; but now, 
feeling them onerous, the landholders were desirous to buy 
them off. 

These attempts to control and confine him in the disposi- 
tion of his private estate, and to exact valuable privileges of 
a personal nature, without recompense, were firmly opposed 
by the proprietary. The right claimed to town lots, he held, 
to be confined, by virtue of the "concessions," to the first 
purchasers, who had already received more than a just pro- 
portion: he complained of the injury done to his city plots 
by the waste of timber; and holding them for the accom- 
modation of such as were not first purchasers, wishing to 
build upon them, he declined to throw them open for com- 
mon use; and the islands, he said, were detached from the 
town, if not from the province. He refused to release his 
quit-rents, lest, failing to receive a maintainance from the 
public, he should need them for his support. The pertinacity 
of the assembly, however, drew from him a reluctant assent 
to their requests, in relation to the vacant lots, and their 
common use was granted by the charter incorporating the 
city, subject to certain restrictions in regard to improvement* 

This charter, dated twenty-fifth of October, 1701, created 
the inhabitants of Philadelphia a body corporate, under the 
name and style of " The mayor and commonalty of the city 
of Philadelphia in the province of Pennsylvania." And by 
it all the city officers were appointed, including the mayor, 
recorder, aldermen, and common council. 

The constitution, which had been under consideration for 
more than eighteen months, was finally adopted on the twenty- 
eighth of October, six parts insevenoftheassembly having for- 
mally surrendered the previous charter granted by Penn. The 
new charier was as comprehensive on the subject of civil and 

• Votes, city Charter, irOl. 



irOlJ HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 121 

religious liberty as the former ones. Whilst it secured, by 
general provisions, the most important of human rights, it 
left minor subjects to be detailed and enforced by the laws. / 

The legislative power was vested in the governor and as- \ 

sembly. \ 

The assembly was composed of four members from each 
county, annually elected. Their number might be increased 
by law. It was empowered to choose a speaker and other 
officers; to judge of the qualifications and election of its mem- 
bers; to sit upon its own adjournments; to prepare bills, im- 
peach criminals, and redress grievances; and possessed all 
other powers and privileges of an assembly, according to the 
rights of the free-born subjects of England, and usual in any 
of the king's plantations in America. Two-thirds of the 
whole number formed a quorum. 

The sheriffs were appointed by the governor, within three 
days after return made to him, from two persons, chosen by 
the freemen of each county; and, in default of such appoint- 
ment, the first person on the return was entitled to the office. 
The term of office was three years. Vacancies by death, or 
otherwise, were filled by the governor. Incumbents continued 
in office until their successors were elected. 

A clerk of the peace for each county was nominated from 
three persons returned by the justices of the peace; and, if 
one of them were not commissioned within ten days, the 
highest on the list held the office. 

There was no provision in the constitution relating to the 
establishment of the judiciary. That important branch of 
the government was left to the discretion af the legislature. 

Nor was the council recognised as a part of the govern- 
ment, unless a prohibition to the governor and council to take 
cognizance of any complaint relating to property, excejjt ap- 
peals should be allowed by law from the ordinary tribunals, 
may be considered as such recognition. The practice of try- 
ing causes relative to real estate, before the governor and 
council, as well those in which private citizens were parties, 
as those in which the proprietary was interested, had been 
continued. This made him a judge in his own cause, and was ■ 
16 



122 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1701 

highly ohjectionahle when the council was elected by the 
people; it became wholly inadmissible when that body be- 
came the mere creature of the governor. 

By a supplementary article to the charter, the proprietary 
granted full permission to the province and territories to dis- 
solve their union at any time within three years from its date; 
and, in case of such dissolution, the provincial assembly was 
to be increased by the election of four additional members 
from each county. 

The proprietary, in granting his assent to this charter, 
was swayed by his fears that the government would be re- 
sumed by the crown. He was willing, by the most liberal 
grant of political rights, to protect himself and his people 
from oppression by royal governors. Retaining the govern- 
ment, however, he subsequently felt and complained of the 
restrictions this charter imposed on the executive power, and 
often intimated an intention to attempt its revocation, in his 
correspondence with his secretary, Logan; but was deterred 
from so vain and odious a design by the arguments of that 
sagacious counsellor. He particularly regretted having given 
the assembly power to convene and adjourn at pleasure, and 
having assented to the separation of the province and terri- 
tories. In his negotiations with the crown for the sale of the 
government, he was much embarrassed by this charter. A 
due regard for consistency, and love of civil liberty, required 
that he should stipulate for the preservation of the charter, 
whilst the ministry insisted, that, with the executive power 
so limited, the government was scarce worth purchasing. 
The negotiation for sale was long protracted, and, at times, 
almost abandoned. When content with the course of affairs 
in the province, the proprietary prided himself on his deter- 
mination to preserve the principles of the charter; but, when 
vexed by the conduct of the assembly and popular leaders, 
and oppressed Ijy poverty, he was often tempted to sell on 
any terms.* 

IJy letters patent, under the great seal, he established a 

* LogAii MSS. 



1701] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 123 

council of state, composed of ten members, chiefly quakers, 
and his intimate friends, of whom four made a quorum; who 
were empowered "to consult and assist, -with the best of 
their advice, the proprietary himself or his deputies, in all 
public affairs and matters relating to the government." And, 
in his absence, or on the death or incapacity of his deputy, 
they, or any five of them, were authorized to execute all 
the proprietary powers in the administration of the govern- 
ment. The members of the council were removable at the 
will of the governor, who might increase their number at 
pleasure.* 

The proprietary was again much perplexed in the choice 
of a deputy. His selection of a stranger, in Blackwell, had 
proven unfortunate. In confidence, that one chosen by the 
assembly would preserve their love and respect, he offered 
them the nomination. But they declined, from modesty, 
or from inability to make a proper selection. His choice fell 
upon Andrew Hamilton, one of the proprietaries of East 
Jersey, and formerly governor of East and West Jersey. 
James Logan was appointed provincial secretary and clerk of 
the council.! 

This officer, who was of a respectable and wealthy family, 
originally of Scotland, but last established in Ireland, ac- 
companied the proprietary on his present visit to the pro- 
vince. In him Penn had unbounded confidence. To his 
care he entrusted all bis private and public affairs in the 
colony. He became chief commissioner of property, or agent 
in the purchase and sale of lands, receiver-general, member 
of council, piesident of council, and chief justice. During 
the life of William Penn, and the minority of his chil- 
dren, he managed, exclusively, the family interests in the 
province. The governors were respectively directed to 
conduct themselves by his counsels, and in proportion as 
they adhered to this instruction, their pbce was rendered 
easy so far as that depended on the proprietary family. If 

• Names of the council. — Edward Shippen, John Guest, Samuel Car- 
penter, William Black, Thomas Stoiy, Griffitli Owen, Phineas Pemberton, 
Samuel Finney, Caleb Pusey, John Blunston. f P'oikI. Logan MSS. 



124 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l702 

they disregarded his admonitions, they were removed. In 
a word, whilst others bore the proprietary's commission, 
the power which it should have conferred, was vested in 
Logan alone. Never was power and trust more safely be- 
stovi^ed for the donor. The seci-etary faithfully devoted 
his time and his thoughts to promote the interests of his 
master, and bore with firmness, if not with cheerfulness, 
the odium which his unlimited devotion drew upon him- 
self.* 

The administration of governor Hamilton was of short 
duration, and embittered by the disputes of the assembly. 
The representatives of the territories refused to meet those 
of the province at their October session; and the latter de- 
clared their intention to dissolve the union. The governor 
represented the effect which their dissentions would have 
upon the important question, relative to the proprietary go- 
vernments, then agitated in England: he urged the injury 
which would result to their commerce from the loss of the 
tobacco trade, the staple of the territories; and protested 
against the breach of the charter, by increasing the number 
of representatives before the stated day of election. These 
reasons induced the assemblj^ to adjourn to the sixteenth of 
the next month. In the meantime, writs were issued for the 
election of members from the lower counties, who convened 
at Philadelphia, on the day to which the provincial mem- 
bers had adjourned, when the latter also assembled; but no 
persuasion could effect their union in one legislature. The 
territories contended they had not accepted the constitution, 
and that they were now met on the governor's writ; that 
by a union with the provincial members, elected under the 
charter, they would sanction that instrument, against the 
wishes of their constituents; and that, deriving their autho- 
rity from different sources, such an assembly would be an 
anomaly in legislation. The provincial members had abated 
somewhat of their desire lo legislate alone ; yet they were 
careful to preserve their dignity, by evincing little disposi- 

* Logan MSS. 



1702] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 125 

tion to conciliate, either the territorial members or the go- 
vernor. The latter dismissed both sets of representativesy 
but not until the provincialists had made a formal demand 
for a separation from the territories, and the increase of their 
own representatives, pursuant to the supplementary article 
of the constitution. 

This separation was final. Governor Evans, in 1703, en- 
deavoured to efi'ect a re-union. But the provincial assembly, 
through David Lloyd, their speaker, returned a mild and eva- 
sive answer to his address upon this subject, pleading their 
fears that a re-union would be unconstitutional, as there was 
no provision for such a measure to be found in the charter. 
To the territories, which had repented of their intractable- 
ness, Lloyd spoke undisguisedly. He reproached them with 
their former obstinacy, and declared that the interests of the 
province forbade a re-union, since the laws which should be 
enacted by a legislature, composed in part of representatives 
from a country not included in the charter to Penn, could 
not be valid by virtue of that charter.* 

The proprietary, who had departed from Philadelphia the 
first of November, 1701, arrived in Portsmouth about the 
middle of December. His influence was sufficient to arrest 
the passage of the bill for converting the proprietary into 
royal governments; or, probably, it was merged in the pro- 
jects of a new reign. William HL died January 18th, 1702 
and was succeeded by the princess Anne of Denmark, with 
whom Penn became a favourite.! His love of the court, and 
the effect with which the royal favour enabled him to serve 
his friends, had always kept him near the throne, whilst he 
could enjoy the smiles of the sovereign. His attachment to 
the infatuated and despotic James had involved him in suspi- 
cion and disgrace; but his devotion to the queen, to attend 
whom, he took lodgings at Kensington, gave him reputation, 
and power to serve his colony and his sect. 

Although the bill for abolishing the proprietary govern- 
ments had failed, the disposition to make them more depend- 

* Votes. Logan MSS. f Proud. Clarkson. 



126 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l702 

ent upon the crown still existed, and manifested itself in an 
act of parliament, requiring the royal assent to the appoint- 
ment of deputy-governors. It was necessary, therefore, that 
the appointment of governor Hamilton should be confirmed 
by the crown. But a long interval elapsed before the assent 
of the queen was obtained. A party had grown up in the 
province, composed of members of the church of England, 
directed by colonel Quarry, judge of the admiralty, and John 
Moore, advocate of the admiralty and register-general under 
the proprietary, to whom was occasionally joined John Guest, 
the provincial chief justice. A church of this faith was opened 
in the year 1700, under the direction of Evan Evans, a cler- 
gyman, sent out by the bishop of London pursuant to the 
reservation in the royal charter. Beside the jealousy inci- 
dent to opposite religious principles, the church party had 
some important reasons for disliking a Quaker administra- 
tion. The war which prevailed between France and England, 
exposed the colonies to visits from the enemy, and a petty 
privateer might blockade the Delaware, destroy the trade of 
the province, and levy contributions on the inhabitants, whilst 
the pacific principles of the assembly prevented them from 
appropriating a shilling for defence. In the mother country 
all questions of civil and criminal jurisprudence were deter- 
mined under the dread solemnity of an oath; whilst in the 
province, property, nay, life itself, was passed upon by judges 
and jurors under a simple affiimation. If the Quakers, con- 
scientiously scrupulous in the use of arms and oaths, sought 
a government under which their scruples might be protected, 
the churchmen, with equal reason, pleaded that their consciences 
required, that they should defend their propeities and lives, 
by arms, against open violence, and by oaths, against insidious 
fraud. To these promptings of conscience, political ambi- 
tion, inseparable from political freedom, was a powerful auxi- 
liary.* 

The church party beheld with delight the disposition of 
the ministry to change the proprietary into royal govern- 
ments, and urged the unfitness of the Quakers to govern in 
seasons of war, as an especial reason for making this change 

• Logan MSS. 



^^^^] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 127 

in Pennsylvania. They watched the administration with 
great vigilance, and exaggerated every matter which they 
considered offensive, in their reports to the queen. They 
delayed the confirmation of governor Hamilton, by accusing 
him of having been concerned in illicit trade; embarrassed his 
government in the territories, by suggestions, that without 
such confirmation he could not legally exercise gubernatorial 
powerj and covertly fomented the disputes between the go- 
vernor and provincial assembly, in order that a state of gene- 
ral confusion might hasten the resolution of the crovvn to 
resume the government, or induce the proprietary to aban- 
don it. Their intrigues rendered it necessary that the pro- 
prietary should constantly reside at court, or employ an agent 
there to correct misrepresentation; and so far excited his in- 
dignation, that he directed governor Hamilton to remove 
Moore from all offices he might hold under him, and exerted 
himself successfully to procure the dismission of colonel 
Quarry, for a short period, from the admiralty. The place 
of the latter he procured for Roger Mompesson, who was at 
the same time constituted judge of the admiralty of New 
York and the Jersies, and appointed by Penn attorney-general 
of Pennsylvania. He had also a commission of chief justice 
of the province, which he proposed to exercise, in case the 
assembly would attach to that office a salary of not less than 
one hundred pounds per annum.* 

Governor Hamilton endeavoured to provide for the defence 
of his province by the creation of a militia. One company 
was formed in Piiiladelphia, and others proposed in various 
parts ot the province and territories. Of this first militia 
company of the province, George Lowther, a gentleman from 
Yorkshire, bred to the law, and subsequently proprietary 
attorney-general, was the first captain. The salary of go- 
vernor Hamilton, as fixed and paid by the proprietary, was 
two hundred pounds per annum, for the time of service be- 
fore confirmation by the queen, and three hundred pounds 
afterwards. He died at Amboy whilst on a visit to his family 
who resided at that place, on the twentieth of April, 17034 

* Logan MS S. f Ibid. 



128 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1703 

By his death, the duties of his office devolved upon the 
council, of which Edward Shippen was president.* The 
people, approving the conduct of their representatives, in 
dissolving the union with the territories, returned eight mem- 
bers from each county to the assembly. But the house was 
obstructed in their legislative duties by the doubts entertained 
by the council of its own powers. In the commission from 
the proprietary, it could find no authority to join in the enact- 
ment of laws. After some delay, the house adjourned, having 
adopted a resolution declaratory of their rights under the new 
organization. 

But their adjournment to a distant day did not escape the 
animadversion of the council, who wished to restrain the exer- 
cise of that right to adjournments from day to day, or at most 
to short periods. The right of the house " to sit upon their 
own adjournments" was unqualified. The construction given 
to it by the council rendered it useless, and was dictated by 
the conviction that, in its unlimited exercise, the prerogative 
of the governor to prorogue the assembly was invaded. To 
avoid the evil effects of a precedent, the council prorogued 
the assembly to the day to which it had adjourned. 

• April. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Appointment of governor Evans — He attempts tore-unite the 
province and territories- •••Addresses of the assembly to the 
queen'^«-Oaths required byorderof council^^'-Bill for con- 
firming the charter^-'^Disputes between the governor and 
assembIy'««'The assembly address the proprietary, and treat 
hina vv^ith great indecorum'««^The province divided into two 
parties under Logan and Lloyd^^^ -Governor applies in vain 
to the assembly, for a copy of the address to proprietary 

• •••Receives the proprietary's opinion of the provincial dis- 
putes----Assembly alarmed for their popularity----The pro- 
prietary party is inspirited-^^'Biles, a member of the assem- 
bly, is prosecuted by the governor* •••The house interfere 

• -••The governor angrily prorogues the assembly---'The as- 
sembly are intimidated and divided^^^^The proprietary party 
triumph in the election of a new asscmbly^^^ -Labours of the 
assembly-^^'Evans attempts to establish a militia-'^^Devises 
a stratagem to test the principles of the Quakers^-'^Con- 
duct of Logan^^^^Fort at Newcastle, and duty imposed for 
its support^^^^Recomes grievous to the province-'^^Enter- 
prise of Richard Hill and others- •••The governor endeav- 
ours to prevail on the house to pass a militia bill — Judi- 
ciary---- A new assembly favourable to the popular party 

• •••Debates on the judiciary bill^---The governor threatens 
to establish courts by his ordinance----Remonstrance of as- 
sembly----Conference---'Governor takes offence at the man- 
ner of Lloyd- -• -The assembly take part with their speaker--- 
Lloyd's apology to the house- ---The assembly impeach Lo- 
gan- "-Governor declines to try the impeachment The 

assembly remonstrate with the proprietary on the conduct 
of Evans, Logan, and the grievances of the province- ••Con- 
tinuance of the disputes — Provincial trade interrupted by 

17 



130 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l704 

privateers- •••Efforts of Evans to induce the assembly to de- 
fend the province-'-'Unwise proceedings of the assembly 
••••Recall of Evans. 

The proprietary's choice of a successor to governor Hamil- 
ton fell on Mr. John Evans, a young man of six and twenty 
years of age, and of Welsh extraction. He was earnestly 
recommended to secretary Logan, under whose direction he 
had promised to place himself. He arrived in the province 
in February, and soon after increased the number of the coun- 
cil, calling to that board, with others, William Penn the 
younger, who had accompanied him to the province. Pur- 
suant to the instructions of the proprietary, he earnestly ap- 
plied himself to re-unite the province and territories; and his 
want of success in this measure, produced an unfavourable 
disposition towards the former, which embittered his whole 
administration.* 

The assembly prepared two addresses to the queen, one, 
congratulatory upon her succession, was styled " the address 
of the freemen of the province of Pennsylvania in general 
assembly met;" and the other, having the official marks of the 
first, was entitled "the humble address of the people called 
Quakers, convened in assembly at Philadelphia." Both were 
passed on the same day, and were signed by Lloyd as speaker 
of the house, and are entered upon the minutes as acts of the 
assembly.! This has much the appearance of identifying 
Quakerism with the government, and declaring it the reli- 
gion of the province. The style and character of the latter 
address is the more extraordinary, as the Swedish and Dutch 
Lutherans were numerous, and the Episcopal church had 
already attained considerable importance; Mr. Evans having 
collected a large congregation, composed chiefly of " Friends," 
who had separated from the meeting. J This singular address 
was occasioned by an order of the privy council of January, 
1702, requiring all olllcers to take tlic oath or affirmation 
prescribed by the statute 7 and S, William HI.; and direct- 

" Proud. Voles. Logan MSS. -j- Votes. + Holmes. 



17043 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 131 

ing that all persons willing to take an oath, in public and 
judicial proceedings, should be permitted so to do. The or- 
dinance was more tolerant than the statute, which did not 
admit the affirmation to be taken by persons in office ; still it 
bore hard upon the Quakers, to whom it was as grievous to 
administer, as to take an oath. Nor could the terms of the 
affirmation be acceptable, as they merely changed the form of 
the invocation of the Deity ; the statutory affirmation requir- 
ing the affirmant to declare the truth " in the presence of 
Almighty God." This ordinance was hostile to the most 
cherished principles of the constitutions of 1696 and 1701, 
and produced great confusion in the province, suspending the 
business of the courts, and disqualifying many of the judges. 
The object of the address of the assembly was to procure its 
revocation. In the mean time, presuming on the justice and 
reasonableness of their prayer, they proceeded to pass a bill, 
substituting affirmations for oaths in all cases j but the gover- 
nor refused to sanction it.* 

The dispute with the late council relative to the power of 
the house to adjourn, induced the assembly to prepare a bill 
for confirming their charter, in which this right in its fullest 
extent was affirmed, and the power of the governor to pro- 
rogue or dissolve them was denied. The constitution of 1696 
recognised the power of the executive to prorogue, but not 
to dissolve the assembly. The constitution of 1701 was silent 
upon this subject, and the house inferred that it was virtually 
abolished by the clause which guaranteed their right to ad- 
journ and meet at pleasure. But the governor and major 
part of his council deemed the prerogative too important to be 
surrendered by mere implication. Both parties adhered per- 
tinaciously to their respective opinions, and their obstinacy 
proved a barrier to all other legislative measures. 

The assembly were highly offended by the governor's op- 
position to their views. They sent him a sharp remonstrance, 
and resolved to address the proprietary upon their grievances. 
The approaching end of the session not permitting this ad- 

• Yotei. l.oijan MSS. 



132 HISTOHY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l704 

dress to be prepared at full length, its substance was compress- 
ed into nine resolutions, which were referred to a committee, 
with instructions to frame a memorial thereon, which, being 
approved by a second committee, was transmitted to the pro- 
prietary. The committees did not fail to better their in- 
structions : giving; full scope to their angry passions, their 
language was harsh and ungrateful, evincing a total want of 
respect for the founder of the colony. They accused him of 
having defeated by his artifices the several privileges he had 
solemnly granted: of having by himself and deputies illegally 
convened, prorogued, and dissolved the assemblies: of having 
neglected the interest of his people, suffering their laws to 
remain unconfirmed by the crown, and their consciences to 
be oppressed by the administration of oaths: and of having 
occasioned great abuses and extortions by negativing the law 
of property in 1701. They complained that in all things not 
expressly provided for in the charter, they were without re- 
medy ; the governor refusing to enlarge or explain what the 
proprietary had granted: that in questions relating to real 
estate, justice was denied them ; the clerks and judges of the 
courts being appointed by himself, the former refused to issue 
process, and the latter were partial in their judgments: that 
his officers, without visible estate, abused and defrauded the 
people, and as they had given bonds for the faithful perform- 
ance of their duties to the proprietary only, the injured were 
v^^ithout redress; and that his commissioners of property 
vexatiously delayed to satisfy purchasers whose surveys were 
deficient in quantity. (I) 

This address was drawn by Joseph Wilcox, and exhibited 
to four members only of the committee, and by some of them 
was condemned. It was not reported to the house, but was 
signed by Lloyd, as speaker, after his term of office had ex- 
pired. A copy, together with a private letter from him, was 
sent to George Mead, George Whitehead, and Thomas Low- 
rie, distinguished Quakers in London, requesting their inter- 
position with the proprietary to obtain redress. Soon after 

(1) See Note Z, Appendix. 



1704] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 133 

the meeting of the next assembly, a copy of the address was 
read in the house, and being disapproved, Lloyd, again elected 
speaker, was commanded to recall it. In executing this com- 
mand, he is said to have acted with great duplicity, reversing 
his public instructions by private letters to the bearer of the 
remonstrance. The messenger was captured by the enemy 
and taken into France, when all his papers, falling into the 
hands of a friend of the proprietary, were sent to him. But, 
duplicates of the remonstrance, copy, and accompanying let- 
ters, soon after reached their proper destination. Highly 
indignant at the manner of this address, and its communica- 
tion to others, the proprietor resolved to prosecute David 
Lloyd, as its author, for high crimes and misdemeanors, and 
directed that he should be indicted, sending over the original 
remonstrance, bearing his signature, to be given in evidence. 
This design was found impracticable, and was wisely, though 
reluctantly, abandoned by Logan.* 

The election for assembly resulted in the choice of the 
major part of the former members, who were rendered still 
more averse to the governor by an attempt on his part to 
organize a militia from among such of the citizens as were 
not conscientiously scrupulous of bearing arms. The inha- 
bitants were now distinctly divided into two parties, the 
proprietary and the popular. The governor was ostensibly 
the head of the first, but it was guided by the talent of Logan. 
David Lloyd was the leader and vital spirit of the second. 
Both had learning and ability, but their characters were op- 
posite. Logan was haughty, reserved, and aristocratic; his 
interest and temperament alike led him to the side of the 
proprietary. Lloyd was accessible to all, affable in his man- 
ners, pertinacious in his enterprises, and devoted to the peo- 
ple. His legal acumen and habitual disputation gave him 
many advantages over his active but less practised antagonist. 
On the one side the major part of the council, the judges, and 
other oflficers dependant upon the crown were arrayed, whilst 
the other was supported by many of the oldest and most re- 

• Logan MSS. 



134 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1704 

spectable inhabitants, and by a united and unyielding assem- 
bly. 

With forces thus marshalled, each party seized with avidity 
the slightest occasion for combat. The house indignantly 
refused to attend the governor, in conference on the vexatious 
bill for confirming the charter, and, in retaliation, the governor 
scornfully declined to appoint a committee from his council 
to confer with the house. And his refusal to commission a 
sheriff, elected for the county of Philadelphia clearly against 
the constitution, drew from the assembly severe but unme- 
rited reprehension. 

The memorial to the proprietary had been concealed from 
Evans, and though a knowledge of its existence was now 
obtained, yet its contents were still unknown to him. 
Apprehensive of rudeness, he did not address himself, at 
first, directly to the assembly to obtain a copy, but procured 
an application to be made by several members of the council 
and other respectable citizens. The house replied by a vote, 
" that no copy should be given without their particular or- 
der." A formal demand was then made by the governor, 
accompanied by a reproof, for resorting to the proprietary 
on subjects within his jurisdiction, a protestation of his right 
to be informed of all measures sanctioned by a vote of the 
house, and a pledge to redress their grievances to the extent 
of his power. He artfully intimated, that as the remonstrance 
was the act of the former, there rested no responsibility upon 
the present, assembly. The house took no notice whatever 
of this message, and the governor, stung with their contempt, 
determined to prorogue them; but, protesting against this 
right, they adjourned to a day of their own choice.* 

In the interim, the governor received letters from the pro- 
prietary, condemning the pretensions of the assembly, as 
exhibited in their bills for confirming the charter, and regu- 
lating property; accusing them of ingratitude, and repro- 
bating, in strong terms, their remonstrance. " If that letter," 
said he, " be the act of the people, truly represented, it was 
sufficient to cancel all his obligations of care over them; but 
if it were done by particular persons assuming to act for the 

* Votes. 



1705] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 135 

whole, he expected the country would purge themselves, and 
take care that due satisfaction was given to him." 

The governor triumphantly communicated the sentiments 
of Penn to the assembly, at their next meeting.* He availed 
himself of this opportunity to enforce upon them the neces- 
sity of providing for the maintainance of the government, 
and contributing to the general defence; threatening them, 
that should the proprietary, offended by their conduct, trans- 
fer the government to the crown, even their rights under 
the royal charter would not be secure, unless purchased by 
donatives to the administration at home. 

The reply of the house was temperate and cautious. As 
their memorial had became very unpopular, they feared to avow 
their approbation; and their notice of it is a model of equi- 
vocation. " As to the representation or letter, sent to the 
proprietary," they say, "by a former assembly, or in the 
name of a former assembly, which he takes, it seems, as an 
indignity, and resents accordingly, it not having been done 
by this house, but being the act (or in the name) of a former, 
as we are not entitled to the affront, (if any be) neither are we 
concerned in answering it. Our part is to lament (as we 
really do) that there should be true occasion for such repre- 
sentation, or, if none, that it should be offered to our proprie- 
tary, whom we both love and honour; and, therefore, we 
hope his obligations of care over us and the people of the 
province, by no such means shall be cancelled." The appeal 
of Penn to the province, produced a great and sudden effect. 
The landholders were abundantly ready to support the assem- 
bly in their demands for an increased per centage for roads, 
and for such a construction of the charter as extended and 
preserved the popular power: but they had not yet forgotten 
the virtues and services of the proprietary, nor did a great 
proportion of the people cease to view him as a distinguished 
apostle of their peculiar faith. The gross attack upon him 
roused the public indignation against its authors, whose hu- 
miliation led them to a more conciliatory course. They now 

* May. Votes. 



^3g HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [lT05 

voted twelve hundred pounds for the support of government, 
to be raised by an assessment of two-pence half-penny in 
the pound on the value of real and personal property, and a 
poll tax of ten shillings per head. Of this sum, six hundred 
pounds and the proceeds of a duty on the importation of 
wines, spirits, and cider, were granted to the governor, whose 
convenience they anxiously consulted at their adjournment. 

As the spirit of the popular party sunk, that of the governor 
and his friends mounted. The latter displayed itself intem- 
perately, in a message to the house, and in the prosecution 
of Biles, one of its members, who had spoken disrespectfully 
of Evans, and had threatened to "kick him out." This the 
latter chose to understand as an indication of a design forcibly 
to expel him from the government. He brought an action 
against Biles, and had the process served during the session 
of the assembly. Biles pleaded privilege, and prayed an 
imparlance. His plea was overruled, and his prayer denied. 
The house, on his complaint, resolved, that the sheriff and the 
judges had committed a breach of privilege. The governor 
haughtily demanded that Biles should be expelled; but the 
assembly negatived a motion to that effect, and declared they 
had no power to expel a member for words spoken out of 
the house; and that service of process upon a member, for 
any other cause than treason, felony, or breach of the peace, 
was a violation of their privileges. " If they had power 
they said, " to expel a member, for words so spoken, it could 
not be justifiably exercised in the present case, after the mea- 
sures which had been taken;" and offering themselves as 
mediators, they prayed the governor to accept an apology 
from Biles, instead of seeking damages at law. 

Upon these proceedings, the governor immediately sum- 
moned the assembly to his presence, and informed them, that 
his patience, which had been sustained by the hope of expe- 
diting public business, was exhausted by their protection of 
one who had slandered and threatened him with violence, 
and who, so protected and irresponsible in the ordinary courts, 
might execute his threats with impunity; that, two years 
having been wasted, it was vain to expect that they would 



1706] HisTOUY or Pennsylvania. 137 

now apply themselves to business; he therefore dismissed 
them until further orders, anticipating that, when they next 
met, he should find them better disposed.* 

The unanimity of the house had been already broken, and 
this vigorous attack filled it with consternation. A quorum 
could not be kept together, and Lloyd, though still at the 
head of the larger part of the assembly, was reduced to inac- 
tivity, and compelled to abandon the field in which he had 
distinguished himself for two years by his ability and vio- 
lence. This syncope of the legislative power was attended 
with no ill effects to the people. Their morals required 
little restraint, and their labours no aid, from legislation. The 
governor suffered most; the resolution relative to his support 
not having been carried into effect. 

Eleven members only of the former house were returned 
to the next assembly, and of these, seven were of the go- 
vernor's "party. Leaving undisturbed the vexatious ques- 
tions, on which their predecessors were wrecked, the house, 
of which Joseph Growden was elected speaker, applied itself 
sedulously to business, re-modelled thirty bills, which had 
been returned, with objections, by the privy council, and 
enacted many new laws. Among the btter, two acts deserve 
particular notice; one, prohibiting the sale of Indian slaves; 
the other, imposing a duty of forty shillings per head upon 
the importation of negroes, with a drawback of one-half on 
re-export. They heard, without murmur or reply, that the 
proprietary had not even presented to the queen the address, 
praying for exemption from oaths, because of the circum- 
stances with which it was attended. They provided liberally 
for the public support, and, having voted an affectionate ad- 
dress to Penn, they solicited the governor to recommend them 
as faithful and loyal to their sovereign, loving and respectful 
to the proprietary, and the present administration. 

Ordinary prudence and decent respect for the religious 
opinions of the people on the part of the governor, might 
have preserved the harmony of the province. Unfortunately, 

• Votes. 
IS 



138 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1706 



Evans possessed neither. He was fond of military display, 
contemned the unostentatious religion of the Quakers, and 
doubting the sincerity and firmness of their antibelligerent 
principles, he resolved to subject them to the test of apparent 
danger. The war declared in 1701, against the French and 
Spaniards, still continued. It had been severely felt in the 
northern, and had created much alarm in the middle and 
southern provinces. Pennsylvania, alone, neither express- 
ed apprehension nor took measures for defence. Her 
assembly had resisted every effort to place her in hostile 
array. But the governor believed, that all scruples to take 
arms would fade before an invading force. Under this con- 
viction he concerted a stratagem with one French, of New- 
castle, Clark, an attorney, of Philadelphia, and others of his 
associates. 

On the day on which the annual fair was held in Philadel- 
phia, French despatched a messenger, in great haste, and 
seeming consternation, to the governor, with news that the 
enemy's ships were in the Delaware, and making for the 
city. This intelligence was instantly published, and Evans, 
mounted on horseback, with his sword drawn, rode through 
the streets in well-feigned alarm, commanding and entreating 
the people of all ranks and opinions to arm for the public 
defence. A general panic immediately prevailed. The 
shipping disappeared from the wharves, the boats and small 
craft crowding into the neighbouring creeks, and the 
larger vessels running up the river above Burlington. Plate 
and other valuables were thrown into wells and privies, 
whilst the owners sought security in the nearest covert; and 
several pregnant women were untimely delivered by their 
fears. A few incredulous men preserved their presence of 
mind, and laboured to restore order to the aflVighted city. 
The falsehood of the report was ascertained before night, and 
its authors were compelled to seek in absence their own safety 
from the vengeance of the people.* 

This experiment on the principles of the Quakers was 

• Votes. Logan MSS. 



1706] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 139 

wholly unsuccessful ; the greater part attending their religious 
meeting, as was their custom on that day of the week, per- 
sisted in their religious exercises, amid the general tumult, 
instead of flying to arms as the governor had anticipated. 
Four members only repaired with weapons to the rendezvous.* 
The conduct of secretary Logan on this occasion, as repre- 
sented by the assembly, was extraordinary and indefensible. 
A Quaker of high moral character, learned and enlightened, 
he submitted to play a puerile and subordinate part in this 
shameful farce. Under pretence of observing the enemy, he 
went upon the river, and communicated with the governor 
by concerted signals, and staying a sloop whose arrival would 
have exposed the falsehood, he displayed from her masts 
simulated French colours.! 

The indignation of the people, awakened by this ill-judged 
stratagem, was much increased by another step of the gover- 
nor. At his instance a fort had been erected by the terri- 
tories at Newcastle, avowedly for the protection of the river, 
but, really, as the provincialists inferred from its use, to vex 
the trade of the province. All vessels navigating the Dela- 
ware were compelled to report themselves, under a penalty 
of five pounds, and a specific sum for every gun fired to bring 
them to. Inward bound vessels, not owned by residents, 
were subjected to the duty of half a pound of powder per ton, 
of the capacity of the vessel. The provincialists remonstrated 
against this abuse in vain. At length Richard Hill, William 
Fishbourne, and Samuel Preston, Quakers, distinguished by 
their private character and public services, resolved to resist 
the imposition. Hill and his companions on board a vessel 
of the former, dropped down the river, and anchored above 
the fort. Fishbourne and Preston went ashore and informed 
French, the commander, that their vessel was regularly clear- 
ed, and demanded that they might pass uninterruptedly. 
This being refused, Hill, who had been bred to the sea, stood 
to the helm, and passed the fort, with no other injury than a 
shot through his mainsail, French pursued in an armed boat, 

• Among these were Edward Shippen, Jr. John Hunt, and Benjamin 
Wright. Letter of J. Norris. Logan MS S. f Votes. 



140 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [iT'Oe 

and was alone taken on board, and his boat, cut from the 
vessel, falling astern, he was led prisoner to the cabin. Gover- 
nor Evans having received intimation of the intention of Hill 
andhiscompanions, followed their vessel by land to Newcastle, 
and after she had passed the fort, pursued her in another boat, 
with Fishbourneand Preston, to Salem, where he boarded her 
in great anger, and behaved with much intemperance. Lord 
Cornbury, governor of New Jersey, who claimed to be vice- 
admiral of the river Delaware, being then at Salem, the pri- 
soner was taken before him, and having, together with 
governor Evans, been severely reprimanded, and giving 
promises of future good behaviour, he was dismissed with the 
jeers of his captors. After this spirited action, the fort no 
longer impeded the navigation of the Delaware. (1)* 

The governor, whose duty it certainly was, by proper 
means, to place his province in a posture of defence, and'who 
might justly fear that the religious scruples of its principal 
inhabitants would invite the attack of the enemy, endeavour- 
ed now to persuade the assembly to enact a militia law. But 
his late measures had alienated the affections of that body. 
Its members were more disposed to inquire into the abuses 
of his power, than to strengthen it by laws repugnant to their 
consciences. Instead of a militia bill, therefore, they sent 
him a remonstrance against the authors of the false alarm, and 
required, that they, together with some persons who, at that 
time, threatened the lives of several of the citizens for en- 
deavouring to carry away their goods, should be brought to 
condign punishment. They denied the expediency of arm- 
ing the province, and pleaded their inability from poverty. 

The privy council, in England, having disapproved, among 
other acts, that, establishing the courts of justice in the pro- 
vince, the assembly was convened in September to prepare a 
substitute. But the views of the governor and the house 
were so widely different upon this subject, that no agreement 
could be effected. The governor intimated an intention of 
establishing a judiciary by his ordinance, in virtue of a power 

(1) See note A 2, Appendix. ♦ Proud, Logan MSS. 



1706] HISTORY ■OF PENNSYLVANIA. 141 

which he claimed by the royal charter; but the house protest- 
ed against his construction of that instrument, and having 
prepared another address to the queen, on the order of coun- 
cil relating to oaths, they adjourned. The rejection of the 
judiciary act by the privy council was effected, probably, by 
the influence of the proprietary, at the instance of secretary 
Logan, who represented its repeal (contrary to the senti- 
ments of the legislature) " as much to the country's advan- 
tage, it having been drawn up in haste by that disaffected 
man, David Lloyd, and that were it once repealed, the pro- 
prietor would have power by the charter from the crown to 
erect all courts for the administration of justice by himself or 
lieutenants."* 

By the election in October, the ascendency of the popular 
party was restored. Lloyd and his associates were returned 
to the assembly, of which he was again chosen speaker. The 
judiciary bill was now the chief object of public attention. A 
plan was submitted to the house by the governor, but was 
rejected without hesitation, and one prepared by them was 
equally exceptionable to him. The house proposed, 1. 
The establishment of a supreme court, with three judges, to 
be appointed during good behaviour, holding semi-annual 
terms in each county; but having no original jurisdiction nor 
power to remove causes from inferior courts before judgment. 
This court was to have an equity side, with appellate juris- 
diction only; and an appeal was to be allowed from its judg- 
ments or decrees to the queen in council: 2. A court of 
common pleas, quarter sessions, and orphan's court, composed 
of a competent number of justices, commissioned by the go- 
vernor, any three of whom to be a quorum, having cogni- 
zance in the sessions of all offences save felonies of death; 
and having also power to grant tavern licenses. In the com- 
mon pleas the justices were to hold quarterly terms for the 
trial of causes in law and equity. 3. That fines, forfeitures, 
andamercements, adjudged by the courts, should be appropriat- 
ed to the payment of the salaries of the judges, who were to be 

• Logan's letter to W. Penn, April, 1708. Logan MSS. 



142 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1706 

removable on the petition of the assembly: 4, That the judges 
should appoint the clerks of their respective courts: 5. That 
the fees of the several officers of the province should be 
established by law: 6. That freeholders be privileged from 
arrest for debt, unless about to depart from the province, or 
abscond, or refuse to give bail. 

Governor Evans objected to almost every feature of this 
bill. To the number of judges of the supreme court, their 
independence of the executive, and their appointment of 
clerks; to the constitution of the courts of equity; to the 
power of granting tavern licenses by the sessions; to the ap- 
propriation of the fines, forfeitures and amercements ; to the 
privilege of freeholders from arrest ; to the appeals allowed 
from the common pleas to the supreme court, and to the pre- 
sent establishment of a fee bill. Considering the supreme 
court as a tribunal for the correction of errors in law, as a 
guide and director of inferior jurisdictions, he held one judge 
of competent learning, sufficient. Against the appointment 
of three, he urged the paucity of subjects qualified for the 
office, the high salaries that must necessarily be given, and 
the scanty means for their payment. The power to appoint 
and remove from office he claimed as a proprietary preroga- 
tive, which could never be abandoned to the legislature. 
Admitting the propriety of a court of equity, he required that 
its powers should be vested in the governor and council, or 
in commissioners, occasionally appointed by himself. He 
insisted, that the power of granting tavern licenses, and the 
proceeds of fines and forfeitures, were personal rights of the 
proprietary, due to him for his care of the people, and by the 
royal charter. 

The two last points were important in a political and pecu- 
niary view. The productive harvest which they promised, 
seen through the vistaof years, might well justify a struggle. 
The amount received for tavern licenses, and fines and for- 
feitures, formed a considerable portion of the proprietary 
income, and justified the fears of the people, that their gover- 
nors would become independent. By the true construction 
of the charter, these rights of the proprietary were appur- 



1707] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 143 

tenant to his political character; he was the receiver for the 
public of these funds, which were subject to the disposition 
of the law. This ground was not at first taken by the popu- 
lar leaders, who assented to the proprietary claims, and 
defended their appropriation by the necessity of granting 
them to the queen, in case the government should be sur- 
rendered. 

The governor endeavoured to strengthen himself by in- 
creasing the power of his council. He had made it a formal 
party in his objections to the judiciary bill, and required 
that the equity court should be constituted from its members. 
But the house refused to recognise that body in any other 
character than an executive council, the creature of the go- 
vernor's pleasure, called to advise him, but having no legisla- 
tive power, nor pretension to obtrude its sentiments upon 
them. 

A long protracted discussion of the judiciary bill, induced 
the governor again to threaten that he would have recourse 
to the power granted by the sixth section of the royal charter, 
which, as his council, his lawyers, and, most probably, his 
instructions from the proprietary, advised, extended to the 
erection of courts of justice, withoui. the authority of the 
assembly. This opinion was dictated by party feeling alone. 
For the preamble of the section looks only to cases that will 
not brook delay, and the limitation at its close, shows that it 
was not to extend to the ordinary subjects of legislation, but 
to those of a momentary nature, such as sudden breaches of 
the peace, imminent danger to the public health, or unfore- 
seen changes in the relations with the Indians, or with a 
sister colony. To infer from this section a right to erect 
courts, was virtually to claim the power to legislate in all 
cases. The house, therefore, not only denied the inference 
of the governor, but they declared all persons, who should 
advise him to re-establish the courts without their consent, 
enemies to the justice, tranquillity, and welfare of the pro- 
vince. 

It was at length proposed, that a personal conference should 
be held between the governor and assembly, and Lloyd was 



I I 



144 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l707 

appointed manager on the part of the house. The hostility 
between the governor and speaker prepared them to take 
offence from the slightest inadvertence; and the conference 
was broken up by a breach of etiquette. Lloyd continued 
for some time to rise, when he addressed the governor, or 
answered the questions put to him; but at length he replied 
whilst seated. The governor commanded him to rise; but 
Lloyd, animated by a spirit not at all conciliatory, refused, 
and claimed, as the representative of the majesty of the peo- 
ple, to be exempted from this tribute of respect, in a confe- 
rence where equality was indispensable, and was sanctioned 
by precedent. Upon this the assembly retired, in order, as 
they expressed themselves, that " the difference might not 
terminate in unseemly language." They immediately sent a 
committee to express their regret to the governor, for the 
misunderstanding, to offer an apology for their speaker, and 
to invite a continuance of the conference, by committees ap- 
pointed by the governor and house respectively. But further 
conference was refused, until atonement should be made by 
the speaker for his insult to the queen's authority, in the per- 
son of her representative. The assembly, believing the mes- 
sage they had sent was an ample apology, and more disposed 
to justify than humiliate their speaker, not only declined the 
condition, but suffered Lloyd to enter his defence at large 
upon their minutes. The whole of this paper is given as an 
example of his style, and of his manner towards the execu- 
tive. 

« I am heartily sorry that what has happened at the confe- 
rence should create this house so much trouble. You are my 
witnesses, that I paid my regards to the governor, and stood 
up when I spoke, till it was concluded we should not proceed 
any further upon the first point till the statute could be pro- 
duced; and, seeing it was too late to send for it, and thinking 
our stay at the conference would be of little service without 
it, I put up my papers, intending to return to the house; but 
some of the governor's council pressing to go on with the 
next point, before the first was brought to a close, I thought 
ii improper to say much to them on that head; and, being 



1707] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 145 

lired of rising so often as I did before, to answer so many- 
opponents, I kept my seat, and spoke some things in answer 
to tliose counsellors whilst still sitting, which the governor 
was pleased to resent, and required me to stand up. But, 
considering that we came there in expectation of a free con- 
ference, (as I informed the house before) though I am willing 
(as I told the governor) to pay all civil regard unto him, yet 
in this case I thought myself under the direction of this house, 
and not to be commanded by any other upon this free con- 
ference. I shall readily acknowledge that standing up at all 
conferences, as well as in other councils, is a decency even 
among equals; and yet I do not conceive that it was ever en- 
joined but to the end, that the person standing may be heard, 
and that the rest may not interrupt; so that I do declare, that 
it was and is my positive judgment, that if the governor thinks 
fit to be present at such conferences, and there exerts his com- 
mands on any manager or other member of the house, such 
commands are inconsistent with the freedom of such confe- 
rences, and offensive to this house: and, if I am mistaken, 
I desire this house to construe it as the error of my judgment 
and not of my mind; and I do solemnly declare, that my 
refusing to comply with the governor's humour, (for so I 
conceive it to be where he exerts his commands where he 
should not) was not with a design to affront him, but to show 
my dissent to that which I thought had a tendency to frus- 
trate the freedom of conferences; not knowing, if I. complied 
with this, whether the next command would not more highly 
affect the rights and privileges of this house, which I am con- 
scientiously concerned to maintain every where; and if, in 
this case, I have done any thing unbecoming the station you 
have put me in, I shall freely submit to your censure." 

This vindication was followed by several resolutions, whose 
spirit was embodied in an address from the assembly to the 
governor, which displays the temper of the times, and the 
weapons of men who were forbidden the use of the sword. 

"We hoped," said they, "our last answer would have 
given the governor full satisfaction in relation to the present 
19 



146 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1707 

misunderstanding, occasioned by the late conference, yet find- 
in"-, by his message just now sent to the house, that he expects 
further acknowledgment, the house has thought fit to signify, 
that the speaker having submitted himself, in relation to his 
deportment at the said conference, to the censure of the house, 
as to the place where he is properly accountable for any mis- 
management there, and the house, having considered that no 
rules or orders were enjoined upon him, in relation to modes 
and gestures of sitting or standing whilst speaking, as not 
apprehensive of consequences, cannot, with colour of justice, 
censure him for mismanagement, or otherwise, for breach of 
any rules or orders of the house. But, forasmuch as stand- 
ing up, whilst speaking before the governor, is acknowledged 
by us to be a decent and convenient posture, we have cen- 
sured the speaker's sitting, whilst speaking, as he did, to be 
inconvenient: and had we in the least foreseen the conse- 
quences, and that the governor would have resented it as he 
did, we would have taken measures to avoid it. But, seeing 
the speaker has submitted himself to the judgment of this 
house, and satisfied us that it was not with the design to af- 
front the governor, we hope the governor will consider, and 
accept of our proceedings and acknowledgments as the ulti- 
mate we can give; and, without delay, proceed with the confe- 
rence, or otherwise to pass the bill, it being the opinion of this 
house that the matters now under consideration, however high 
the governor may strain them, are not of sufficient weight 
to retard or obstruct the public good." Notwithstanding the 
irony of this address, the governor received it as an oblation, 
though not an adequate one, to his ofi"ended pride j and he de- 
manded, in vain, a personal apology from Lloyd. At length 
the house, being charged with having violated the queen's 
majesty, in the person of her representative, chose to close 
this ridiculous afl"air, by a long and solemn memorial, recapi- 
tulating the facts and the arguments on both sides. It is difficult 
to say which is most to be admired in this quarrel, the go- 
vernor's puerility, or the assembly's solemn mockery of his 
pretensions. The governor, unable to change the opinions of 
the house, established a judicature by proclamation. 



1707] HISTORY OF PKNNSYLVANIA. 1 if 

The assembly had now become highly exasperated, by the 
continued opposition of the governor to their wishes. He 
was protected from their anger by his station, but the se- 
cretary was deemed assailable. He was the strength of the 
executive, and the unpopular measures were ascribed to his 
influence. He was obnoxious from his rigour in enforcing the 
proprietary rights, and the payment of the quit-rents. Thir- 
teen articles of impeachment were prepared against him, and 
solemnly presented by the house to the governor and council. 
He was accused, 1, That, contrary to the royal charter, he caused 
to be inserted in the governor's commission a clause, requir- 
ing the proprietary's sanction to the enactment of the laws; 
2, That, in violation of the constitution of 1701, he inserted 
a power in such commission, to convene, prorogue, or dis- 
solve the assembly; 3, That he assumed to himself the pow- 
ers of the commissioners of property, substituted his own 
grants for the confirmation of lands, and refused copies, re- 
quired for the purpose of taking counsel on their validity; 

4, That he reserved quit-rents for lands before they were lo- 
cated, and for lands allowed for roads and errors in surveys; 

5, That, contrary to law, he issued warrants for re-surveys, 
thereby disquieting the queen's subjects in their possessions; 

6, That, without legal authority, he partitioned lands among 
persons having undivided rights, without the consent or pri- 
vity of all the owners; 7 and 8, That he suppressed the ob- 
jections of the commissioners of trade and plantations, to 
several provincial laws, whence other laws, subject to like 
objections, were enacted; 9, That he kept in his own hands 
the offices of proprietary's secretary, and surveyor-general; 

10, That he detained from the rolls-office the laws enacted 
by the last assembly, preventing copies from being taken; 

11, That he illegally detained some, and vacated other pa- 
tents, forbidding the master of the rolls to grant copies of 
them ; 12, That, after the charter of privileges, and the char- 
ter of the city of Philadelphia had passed the great seal, he, 
to the dishonour of the proprietary, and with a wicked in- 
tent to create division and misunderstanding between him 
and the people, did at divers times, and on several occasions, 



148 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l707 

declare that the proprietary never intended to grant several 
things, which are expressly granted by these charters; 13, 
That, with design to betray the rights and privileges of the 
people, in regard to elections, he persuaded a certain John 
Budd, who was duly elected sheriff of the city and county of 
Philadelphia, not to hold the said office by right of his elec- 
tion, but to take it as of the governor's donation. 

The governor refused to entertain these articles. He de- 
nied that an impeachment could be prosecuted in the pro- 
vince, as there was no middle state, like the house of lords, 
authorized to decide judicially upon the accusations of the 
commons. The assembly appealed to the charter of 1701, 
which expressly gave them power to impeach criminals, 
and inferred, that the power to impeach, necessarily supposed 
a tribunal to hear and determine, which, from analogy, must 
be found in the other branch of the legislature; a contrary 
construction presumed a gross defect in the constitution, and 
assured impunity to the counsellors and others, near the go- 
vernor, who might commit offences not cognizable by the 
ordinary courts of justice. For a moment, Evans yielded to 
this reasoning, and called upon the secretary for his defence. 
Logan replied, that, though youth and inexperience might 
have led him into measures which his riper judgment would 
condemn, yet the present attack was but a prelude to one on 
his master; and, though the charges were incomprehensible, 
he had designed to answer them publicly, but had refrained, 
from a knowledge of the governor's doubts of his right to 
try the impeachment. And now, though desirous of a speedy 
trial himself, he was not bound nor willing to plead, or enter 
upon his defence, until the proof of the prosecutors was ex- 
hibited. The governor not only held this objection to be 
valid, but returned to the opinion that he had no jurisdiction. 
He communicated the secretary's reply to the house, together 
with a memorial addressed to himself by Logan, treating their 
motives and conduct with great disrespect, and offered to 
hear their evidence, and to remedy such grievances, as they 
should make apparent. There was much disingenuousness 
on the part of the governor and secretary. The one, amusing 



1707] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 1 4§ 

the people v;ith hopes that he would try the impeachment; 
the other, complaining of delays, which were caused by his 
own machinations. Logan's resolute procrastination, renders 
it highly probable, that zeal for his master, and dislike of the 
popular party, had led him to measures not wholly justifiable. 

The popular party was not of a temper to remain inactive 
under this^ treatment. They resolved to remonstrate with 
the proprietary, on the conduct of his lieutenant and secre- 
tary, and to direct their agents in London, in case he should 
delay to redress their grievances, to apply to the throne. The 
latter measure was hitherto equally dreaded by proprietary 
and people, neither of whom were desirous of the royal in- 
terposition; and the resort to this step affords strong evidence 
of the great irritation of the public mind. 

Whilst engaged in preparing their remonstrance, the house 
was commanded by the governor to submit it, without delay, 
to his inspection, and forbidden to transmit any address to 
the proprietary without his approbation. They replied, that 
his total neglect of the administration had left them no other 
course than an appeal to his superiors: that their memorial 
embraced those matters which they had frequently submitted 
to him, and representations of his private misconduct, a re- 
capitulation of which, they presumed, would not be grateful 
to him; nor did they recognise his right to inspect their cor- 
respondence with the proprietary, on his maladministration. 

In their remonstrance, the assembly complained, that their 
former grievances were wholly unredressed; and that, whilst 
their representations were overlooked, or censured as offen- 
sive, the reports of their adversaries were favourably received 
and trusted: that, by the inattention of the proprietary to 
their prayer to the crown, on the subject of oaths, the Quakers 
were excluded from employment in the government, which 
they claimed as a right, the exercise of which was necessary 
to restore the administration to its original purity: that the 
unsettled state of the Maryland boundary, involved the titles 
of the settlers near the line in doubt and obscurity: that, not- 
withstanding the gift of two thousand pounds to the proprie- 
tary, in consideration that he would obtain the royal sanction 



150 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1707 

for their laws, the most valuable had been repealed: that the 
deputy-governor had refused to pass a judiciary bill, and had 
established courts by his own ordinance: that, by refusing to 
try their impeachment of Logan, he had rendered the con- 
stitution ineffective, and suffered an evil minister to offend 
with im.punity: that, in despite of the remonstrance of the as- 
sembly, he permitted the French from Canada to trade with 
the Indians, and seduce them from the English interest: 
that, with the assembly of the territories, he unconstitution- 
ally interrupted and burdened the trade of the province, on 
the Delaware, exacting a large sum from the masters of ves- 
sels for a permit to navigate the river: that he had formed a 
militia, and granted privileges to those who enrolled them- 
selves, which were continued to the great oppression of those 
who had refused to enlist, though the militia had not been 
mustered since the false alarm: that, in displeasure with the 
city magistrates, who would have punished his companions 
for their disorderly revels and night brawls, he refused to 
sanction a bill for confirming and explaining the city charter; 
had commissioned justices of the county to decide on matters 
arising within the city, and cognizable by its magistrates, in- 
tending, by this means, to appropriate to himself the fines 
levied, and to increase the number of the taverns and ale-houses, 
for the sake of the license-money, which he had doubled; 
thus raising contributions on the inhabitants without law or 
precedent: that he had refused to commission sheriffs and 
coroners elected by the people, had appointed others, and 
had prorogued the assembly for their remonstrance on this 
part of his conduct: that in his private life he was indecorous 
and immoral; had practised abominations with the Indians at 
Conestoga, committed at his country residence notorious ex- 
cesses and debaucheries, not fit to l^e rehearsed, and had 
beaten several of the inhabitants, particularl}'^ a peace-officer, 
who, ignorant of his presence, at a house of ill fame, had 
attempted to disperse the company, at one o'clock in the 
morning; (1) and, though by his example he weakened the 

(1) See Note B 2, Appendix. 



1708J HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 151 

hands of the magistrates, he hypocritically caused his procla- 
mations to be read in the churches and religious meetings, 
against the very disorders which he himself committed: that 
he abused the people with false alarms, fired, and caused others 
to fire, upon them whilst employed in preserving their pro- 
perty from robbery. Against Logan, the assembly urged, 
his conduct on the occasion of the false alarm: that he had 
illegally possessed himself of the title papers of many free- 
holders, which he refused to re-deliver, treating the owners 
opprobriously when they came to demand them : that he de- 
nied patents to purchasers, who had paid for their lands more 
than twenty years, and forbade surveyors to locate their war- 
rants: and that he had caused the proprietary rangers to dis- 
train cattle running at large upon lands sold by the proprietary, 
converting them to his own use. This remonstrance, with 
accompanying documents, was transmitted to George White- 
head, William Mead, and Abraham Lower, agents of the 
province in London, with instructions to present them to the 
proprietary, and to the board of trade and plantations. 

The people testified their satisfaction with these proceed- 
ings, by returning at the next election the greater part of the 
members of the former house. At their first session, the as- 
sembly passed unanimously the rejected judiciary bill, which 
was again negatived by the governor; and, at their second, 
he refused to proceed in any business, until he should learn 
the opinion of the board of trade upon that bill ; and, though 
they again met, his adherence to his determination compelled 
them to adjourn without day. 

The quarrel between the executive and the legislature had 
now reached its crisis. For two years, no benefit had resulted 
from the labours of either. The assembly had resisted with 
energy and justice the several attempts to encroach upon their 
liberties. The impediments to their trade, from the fort at 
Newcastle, the unauthorized imposition of duties, and esta- 
blishment of a judicature by the governor, were founded in 
obvious and dangerous assumptions of power. The misera- 
ble stratagem, the public and private immoralities of Evans, 
hit indecorous and haughty demeanour to the assembly, 



152 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l708 

justified remonstrance and complaint. Had less personal 
invective, and more dignity, entered into the debates and 
proceedings of the house, they would have from posterity 
the approbation bestowed by their contemporaries. But their 
confidence in popular support deprived them of discretion, 
induced pretensions flagrantly unjust, and led them to resist- 
ance and crimination, when active and efficient exertion be- 
came necessary. 

The trade of the province was at this time almost wholly 
interrupted by the privateers of the enemy, which, cruizing 
off the capes of the Delaware, captured all vessels entering 
or departing. Evans would have attempted to drive them 
away; but, having neither money nor munitions of war, he 
was unable to act without the aid of the assembly. He con- 
vened them on the second of August, and calmly and respect- 
fully representing the hostilities committed at their very 
thresholds, entreated them to grant him the means of per- 
forming his duty. He endeavoured to combat their aversion 
to warlike measures. " The design of government," he said, 
" was to preserve the rights of individuals against all invaders. 
Against thieves and robbers within the state, force was ad- 
mitted to be necessary; and, if it were justifiable to protect 
society against partial injuries, it was an absolute duty to 
suppress efforts for its total destruction: nor was it necessary 
that they should violate their principles: all that was now 
required from them, was an appropriation, in the common 
form, for the support of government." 

To this temperate and rational message, the house replied 
with the fulness of their former asperity. They charged 
him with having neglected to make timely application to lord 
Cornbury, who, as vice-admiral, was bound to protect the 
Delaware bay, and had, on a former occasion, (the affair of the 
fort) promptly done his duty. They declared, that, accord- 
ing to their ability, they had furnished means for the support 
of government: that they had granted to the proprietary 
eight hundred pounds, and half the proceeds of the excise, 
amounting to five hundred and fifty pounds more, which, 
with the fines, forfeitures, and other profits, taken for his 
use, should have been appropriated to the public service; as 



1708] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 153 

he had, by the sale of lands, and reservation of quit-rents 
provided amply for the maintainance of himself or deputy, 
and had proved the disposition of the assembly on former 
occasions to relieve his necessities. And, though they had 
no pretension to direct the manner in which their grants should 
be expended, it was their right to inquire into their disburse- 
ment; and, when satisfied on this head, and informed of the 
amount appropriated to Indian treaties, they would, in re- 
turn for the protection of the queen, contribute further to 
the public service. 

This reply was disingenuous, in regard to the governor, 
unjust to the proprietary, and idle as to the public defence. 
Had the assembly met the requisition boldly, their plea of 
conscience would have claimed respect. But they dreaded 
the impression this course would have made on the ministry. 
For, though their religious opinions had frequently prevented 
them from granting money for military purposes, they had 
publicly assigned their poverty as a reason for their refusal. 
Their reference to Cornbury was unwarrantable. He had no 
right to act, save as governor of New Jersey, and as a subject, 
with themselves, of the English crown. Nor will this re- 
ference be deemed less preposterous when it is considered, 
that the governor of Pennsylvania was, by the royal charter, 
empowered to exercise the rights of war upon the king's 
enemies, by sea and land, even beyond the limits of the pro- 
vince. But this power, the assembly chose to think, did not 
justify the fitting out ships of war. The monies they now 
reclaimed for the public service, had been granted for the 
support of the governor. The attempt to subject the pri- 
vate estate of the proprietary to the whole charge of his 
deputy's maintainance, whilst no revenue was appropriated 
to the governor-in-chief, was flagrantly unjust; and the de- 
mand for an account of monies, of the disposition of which 
they were already well informed, was a trick to avoid a di- 
rect answer to the governor's demand. These things he 
pressed upon them in vain. Deaf to his arguments, inflexi- 
ble l)y his entreaties, they adjourned, without taking any 
20 



154 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1708 

measures to protecl their trade, or the properly of their con- 
stituents. 

The remonstrance of the assembly ascainst Evans was, at 
length, effectual; he was superseded in September, by the ap- 
pointment of col. Charles Gookin. The proprietary was moved 
to this step, more by the disaffection of his people, and the 
representation of his friends, than his own convictions of its 
propriety. Evans had been a faithful and devoted servant, 
though his temper and his morals rendered him an inefficient 
one. His administration, which, for several years, was di- 
rected by Logan, had, in its principles, received the approba- 
tion of Penn. By instructions from the latter, given in 1705, 
he was directed to pass no law, nor grant any privilege, until 
t4ie assembly should settle a permanent revenue, of one thou- 
sand pounds at least, upon the government; the proprietary 
declared at the same time, that " he too mournfully remem- 
bered how noble a law he had of exports and imports, when 
he was first in America, which would now be worth some 
thousands a year, which he had suspended for a season only, 
upon an agreement with the merchants, and which had been 
repealed by Thomas Lloyd, without his consent."* 

Evans was young, volatile, and impetuous; fond of plea- 
sure, which he pursued with eagerness and without restraint. 
Confident in his own judgment, haughty in his manners, and 
careless in his temper, he contemned the understanding of 
the people he was called to govern, exacted a slavish respect 
for his station, and outraged the religious feelings of the most 
eminent citizens; and, at length, forfeited the esteem of his 
own and the proprietary's best friends, the secretary, Logan, 
included, who solicited his removal. His long continuance 
in the government, produced a disposition unfriendly to the 
proprietary interests, which embarrassed his successor, and 
marred the peace of the colony. (l) The assembly of the lower 
counties, irritated by his conduct, questioned his authority, 
'denying the right of the proprietary to appoint a governor 
for them. We may mention here an instance of Evans' op- 

* Penn's letter to Logan. UUi 7 mo. 1703. (1) See Note C 2, Appendix. 



1708J HISTORY OK PENNSYLVANIA. 155 

pression. He granted a license for the marriage of Thomas 
French, taking bond with surety that he should marry, pur- 
suant to the license, according to the mode of the church 
of England. But French, some time after, was married ac- 
cording to the manner of the presbyterians, and by a presby- 
terian clergyman. Evans put the bond in suit against the 
surety, obtained judgment, and imprisoned him for the non- 
payment of the penalty (two hundred pounds). The brother 
of the surety petitioned Penn, who, highly disapproving the 
conduct of Evans, commanded governor Gookin to discharge 
the prisoner, and release the debt. He also required, that ail 
bonds of a public nature should, in future, be made payable 
to himself, unless otherwise directed by law.* 

His great expenditure on the province, devotion to public 
affairs, civil and religious, neglect of his private concerns, and 
the fraud of his steward, had reduced the proprietary to 
great pecuniary distress; and, at the suit of the representatives 
of his steward, he was confined within the rules of the Fleet 
prison. He was relieved from this humiliating state, by mort- 
gaging the province, and his political rights therein, to Henry 
Gouldey, Joshua Gee, Silvanus Grove, John Woods, and John 
Field, of London, Thomas Callowhill, Thomas Oade, and 
Jeffrey Pennell of Bristol, and Thomas Cuppage of Ireland. 
The mortgagees did not assume the government, but appointed 
Edward Shippen, Samuel Carpenter, Richard Hill, and James 
Logan, commissioners to superintend their interest in the 
province, who repaid the loan with funds obtained from the 
sale of lands, and from his quit-rents.t 

* Minutes of council. | Proiicl. Logan MSS. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Arrival of governor Gookin""CompIaints of the assembly 
• •••Call upon the house for military supplieS'-'^Penn's in- 
structions to the governor^*- 'Logan attacks Lloyd'«^«Pro- 

ceedings of the assembly Logan arrested Governor 

dissolves the assembly* •••Produces a change of counsels^^^* 
Attack and capture of Fort Royal* ••Enterprise upon Canada 
•••Assembly grant two thousand pounds^^-Acts for securing 
the government, and prohibiting the importation of slaves 
••••Proprietary sells his government to the crown^ ••Address 
of the governor to the assembly^^««First edition of the lavirs 
••••Laws repealed by the privy council^ ••Governor publishes 
an ordinance re-establishing the courts^^^ -Death of Queen 
Anne^^' •Accession of George !••• 'Address of the Assembly 
•••Conduct of governor Gookin^^^Stat. I.Geo. I. relative to 
oaths'^^ •Governor quarrels with Logan and Norris^^^^His 
recall^'^^Death and character of William Penn^^- -His will. 

The removal of governor Evans had been procrastinated, 
from the difficulty of procuring a fit successor. At one time 
the proprietary had resolved to appoint his eldest son his de- 
puty, but abandoned his design on the remonstrance of his 
friends in the province, who knew and dreaded his levity 
and dissipation. At length, colonel Gookin was selected, and 
the proprietary anticipated, that his mildness of manners, 
steadiness of conduct, and economical habits, would recom- 
mend him to the people. 

Governor Gookin arrived in the province in the month 
of March. The assembly then in session immediately peti- 
tioned him for redress of their grievances. The memory of 
Evans' offences did not die with his authority; nor was Lloyd 
and his party disposed to suffer him to depart without further 
marks of their displeasure. They charged him with high 



IZOSj HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 157 

crimes and misdemeanors before Gookin, and required, that 
a criminal prosecution should be instituted against him. But 
the governor prudently endeavoured to allny their animosity, 
and to satisfy them that he could not, constitutionally, accede 
to their request. But, whilst extinguishing a flame with one 
hand, he lighted a new one with the other. By communi- 
cating to the assembly an address of his council, vindicating 
themselves from a charge of having influenced the conduct 
of Evans, he involved the two bodies in a violent altercation. 
Astute in discovering grievances, the house soon found ample 
matter to occupy the attention of the executive. They com- 
plained of his disrespect, in visiting Newcastle whilst they 
were in session; of the insecurity of the freeholders in the 
payment of their quit-rents, whilst uncertain of the payment 
of a mortgage of the province, by the proprietary, to Philip 
Ford,(l) in the year one thousand six hundred and ninety; 
of the assumption by the governor to grant marriage licenses; 
of the grants of pardon, and discontinuance of prosecutions, 
without the knowledge of the magistrates before whom cri- 
minals were charged, or to be tried; of the appointment of 
one person to the offices of town clerk, clerk of the peace, 
prothonotary of the common pleas, and of the supreme court; 
of the illegal assessment of certain poor-taxes, and of several 
petty misdemeanors of justices of the counties of Bucks and 
Philadelphia. 

But from these petty grievances, the attention of the house 
was soon called to subjects of greater importance, in which 
their duty to the crown, and their religious principles, were 
again to be weighed against each other. In demands hereto- 
fore made for military contributions, circumstances had fa- 
voured the province, and she had escaped with ease, under 
the forbearance of Fletcher, the scruples of Penn, and the 
inefficiency of Evans. A severe trial now awaited her. The 
French had actively prosecuted the war on the continent of 
America, and the northern colonies suffisred greatly from their 
incursions. In the preceding year, they had penetrated to 

(1) See Note D 2, Appendix. 



158 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1708 



Haverhill, on the Merrimack river, and reduced the town to 
ashes. Upon the entreaties of the inhabitants of New Eng- 
land, the ministry in En-land formed an extensive plan for 
the conquest of Canada, Arcadia, and Newfoundland. An 
attack upon Quebec was to be made by a squadron of ships, 
carrying five regiments of regulars from England, and twelve 
hundred provincials, furnished by the zeal of Massachusetts 
and Rhode Island; whilst an army of fifteen hundred men 
from the colonies, conducted by colonel Francis Nicholson, 
should attempt Montreal, by way of the lakes. But this 
enterprise was altogether abandoned: the exigencies of the 
war in Europe requiring all the forces of the allies. 

The portion of troops required from Pennsylvania was one 
hundred and fifty privates, with their officers. The governor, 
conscious of the obstacles to the raising of troops, interposed 
by the religious sentiments of the assembly, proposed that 
instead of soldiers, they should furnish four thousand pounds, 
to be expended under the direction of a committee of their 
own appointment. But the house having taken time to con- 
sult their constituents, with great humility, and with their 
usual professions of duty, declared, " they could not in con- 
science provide money to hire men to kill each other;" but 
offered, as part of the revenue of the queen, the sum of five 
hundred pounds. This was refused by the governor, who 
insisted on a larger sum, more proportionate to their ability, 
and warned them, that their coldness to the public service 
would injure their cause with the queen; and he finally de- 
clined to consider any bill offered by the house until they 
should vote a proper supply. At a subsequent session they 
again offered five hundred pounds, but they made a special 
appropriation of this sum; three hundred pounds for Indian 
expenses, and two hundred for the governor's own use, with 
a condition, however, that he should concur in the bills then 
before him. Offended by their want of confidence, and this 
attempt at coercion, he spiritedly refused to take further part 
in legislation, until ample provision had been made for his 

support. . 1 • J 

In his message to the legislature on this occasion, he mad- 



17083 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 159 

vertently disclosed, that his instructions forbade him to pass 
any law without the consent of his councih This interdic- 
tion giving birth to a power foreign to the constitution, was 
highly oflensive to the assembly. The office of the council 
was to aid, not to rule, to serve, not to command, the gover- 
nor. He was the representative of the proprietary, vested 
with all his political power, and constitutionally subject tone 
other control, than that his principal had submitted to, by 
his compact with the people. In this character they knew 
how to approach him: but, if he were subject to the will of 
a secret and irresponsible cabal, they were uncertain to whom 
their grievances might be effectually addressed, or what in- 
terests they were to propitiate. Deprived of his freedom of 
will, he was no longer answerable for his actions; his dignity 
must vanish, and himself sink into pity or contempt. Beside 
these constitutional objections, the assembly felt there were 
others of a personal nature. Logan, devoted to the proprie- 
tary, to whose interests he was at all times ready to postpone 
those of the province, was predominant in the council; and 
in terms as plain as their indignation was strong, the house 
ascribed to him all the past dissentions of the government. 

The secretary, who had hitherto stood on the defensive, 
receiving or parrying the blows of his adversaries, now re- 
solved to retaliate. He preferred, through the governor, to 
the house, a charge of high misdemeanor against Lloyd, 
then speaker; the nature of which does not clearly appear, 
but was probably founded on the correspondence of the latter 
with William Mead and others, relative to the remonstrance 
to Penn in 1704. Lloyd, without any affectation of delay, 
entered upon his defence, and required his accuser to sub- 
stantiate his accusation. This Logan declined, under various 
pretences, chiefly on the ground of his immediate departure 
for Europe, pledging himself to return, if for no other pur- 
pose, to prove his allegations. The house, however, would 
not brook delay. After an examination before a committee 
of the whole, they declared the charge false, scandalous, and 
libellous. 

Preparatory to his departure, the secretary expressed his 



160 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l708 



desire of being tried on the articles of impeachment, former- 
ly preferred against him. In a petition to tlie assembly on 
this subject, he charged them with unfairness and injustice, 
and dared the vengeance of the members, who were his im- 
placable enemies. Irritated by this language, they directed 
him to be committed to prison, and disqualified him from 
exercising any office until he should make them satisfaction. 
He was arrested on the warrant of the speaker, but released 
by the sheriff, on a supersedeas from the governor, who de- 
nied the right of the assembly to arrest any other than its 
own members, and particularly one who was a member of 
council; and declared, that if such right existed, it did not 
appertain to the present house, which was illegally consti- 
tuted. But, if the assembly possessed the power to protect 
itself against libellers, that power could not be suspended, 
becausc^the offender was a member of the governor's coun- 
cil. Nor was the governor's objection to the legality of 
the assembly entitled to consideration. He contended that 
the house having failed to form a quorum at a former session, 
was ipso facto dissolved, and had not the power to adjourn 
to a future day. But the dissolution of the assembly from 
such a cause is inconsistent with the existence of a represen- 
tative government, and would subject it to all the evils of 
intrigue and corruption. The governor, however, persisting 
in hb opinions, and refusing to try the impeachment, the 
house was compelled to separate; nor did they again re- 
assemble. Their conduct was approved by a great majority 
of the inhabitants, for whose information they published their 
late proceedings, and they had just reason to confide in the 
public favour; but by Logan's activity their hopes were 

speedily crushed. 

The confidence of the proprietary in his secretary had 
never wavered, and the infiuence of the latter, now in Lon- 
don, was visible, in a letter of the fourth of June, addressed 
by the former to the assembly. This letter, after a rapid and 
accurate sketch of the history of the province, puts in full 
relief all that the proprietary had done for its benefit. His 
liberal political principles,his personal labours, and pecuniary 



17103 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 161 

losses are contrasted with the turbulence, avarice, and ingrati- 
tude of the people. Their complaints of oppression and other 
grievances he treats as the mere wantonness of liberty. On 
all the prominent subjects of dispute he sanctions the views 
of his deputies. The alleged right of the house to adjourn 
at their pleasure for any length of time, the proposition to 
make the judges removable on the address of the assembly, 
their former remonstrance to him, their remarks on his quit- 
rents, the encroachments on his manors, their claims for 
allowance in the surveys of land, their violent measures 
against his secretary, and their resistance to the establishment 
of courts by his authority, under the royal charter, are all un- 
equivocally condemned. After a warm but friendly expos- 
tulation, he assures them that his future conduct must take 
its colour from that of the next assembly; that if it, after a 
fair election, should not be more favourably disposed towards 
him, he would, without suspense, resolve on his course. This 
was understood as a threat to surrender the government of 
the province to the crown. An instantaneous and general 
change in the minds of the people was effected by this letter. 
The unanimity of the assembly made every member obnox- 
ious to the complaints of the proprietary, and the exclusion 
of all was deemed the only proper sacrifice to his violated 
feelings. Lloyd thus beheld the fragile staff on which he 
leaned break under him, and his violence against the secre- 
tary recoil upon himself. 

By the election of the new assembly harmony was restored 
to the government, and all its branches were distinguished by 
sedulous and successful application to business. The right to 
adjourn at pleasure Was yielded: the expenses of the state 
were cheerfully supplied, and the judiciary was established 
by law. The voice of complaint was hushed, whilst the mani- 
fold blessings they enjoyed were frankly acknowledged.* 

After the failure of the late enterprise against the French 
possessions, colonel Nicholson proceeded to England to sti- 
mulate the ministry to further exertions on the American 

• Votes. 
21 



162 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1710 



continent. Great promises were made him, but their fulfil- 
ment was so long delayed, that he resolved to attack Port 
Royal with the means at his disposal in the colonies; with 
twelve ships of war, and twenty-four transports, having on 
board one regiment of marines, and four of infantry, raised in 
New England, he attacked and captured the place, and ob- 
tained possession of Nova Scotia.* This success, and the 
personal solicitation of Nicholson, supported by colonel 
Schuyler, of New York, who had visited London with a depu- 
tation from the Five nation Indians, determined the ministry 
to make another attempt on Canada. In pursuance of this 
resolution, circulars were addressed to the governors of the 
northern and middle colonies, requiring them to meet and 
confer with Nicholson at New London, and to prepare their 
respective quotas of men and provisions. Governor Gookm 
did not arrive at the place of rendezvous in time to assist at 
the conference, and his absence was regretted by the assem- 
bly of Pennsylvania, under the belief that his representations 
would have procured them a more favourable requisition. 
They gave him no cause, however, to complain of their con- 
duct. Their regard for the religious principles of their con- 
stituents caused them to decline taking an active part in the 
war, but recognising their duty in the payment of tribute and 
obedience to the powers which God had set over them, so far 
as their religious persuasions would permit, they availed 
themselves of this opportunity to express their loyalty to the 
queen, by raising for her use the sum of two thousand pounds, 
which they tendered as a token of their duty, and as the 
equivalent for their quota of menA This sum was raised 
by an impost of five pence half penny in the pound on the 
value of real and personal estate, and a poll tax of twenty 
shillings on unmarried freemen; and being immediately re- 
quired, was, because of the scarcity of money, paid princi- 
pally in provisions. The grant, however, was subjected to 
the charge of compensating the masters of such servants in 

• Holmes' Annuls. " j Votes. 



1711] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 16S 

Pennsylvania as had enlisted in the New Jersey forces, not 
returned before the ensuing September.(l) 

The expedition to Canada proved most disastrous. Colonel 
Nicholson, under whom served colonels Schuyler, Whiting, 
and Ingoldsby, mustered at Albany two thousand colonists, 
one thousand Germans, from the palatinate, and one thousand 
of the Five nation Indians, who commenced their march 
towards Canada on the twenty-eighth of August. The troops 
from Boston, composed of seven veteran regiments, of the 
duke of Marlboj'ough's army, one battalion of marines, and 
two provincial regiments, amounting to six thousand four 
hundred men, sailed on board of sixty-eight vessels, the 
thirtieth of July, and arrived off the St. Lawrence on the 
fourteenth of August. In ascending the river, the fleet, by 
the unslcilfulness of the pilots, or the obstinacy and distrust 
of the admiral, was entangled amid rocks and islands on the 
northern shore, and ran imminent hazard of total destruction.* 
Several transports, and near a thousand men, perished. Upon 
this disaster the remainder bore away for Cape Breton, and 
the expedition, by the advice of a council of naval and milita- 
ry officers, was abandoned on the ground of the want of pro- 
visions, and the impossibility of procuring a seasonable 
supply. The admiral sailed directly for England, and the 
colonists returned to Boston, whilst colonel Nicholson, thus 
deserted, was compelled to retreat from Fort George. The 
want of skill, fortitude, and perseverance, are eminently con- 
spicuous in the British commanders of this enterprise. 

During the years 1711 and 1712,cordiality continued to pre- 
vail between the governor and assembly. A regular and 
competent revenue was established ; the arrears of taxes were 
put in train for collection, and the public debts liquidated 
and paid ; courts were erected in a manner satisfactory to the 
people, and the fees of the several officers established by law. 
Even the animosities of the leaders of the rival parties were 
charmed to rest, and Lloyd, a member of assembly in the 
latter year, appears to have bent his talents and industry with 

(1) See note E 2, Appendix. * Charlevoix. 



164 mSTOKY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1712 

sincerity and earnestness to the public labours. His querulous 
spirit was restrained by the majority of the house, wliich was 
of the proprietary party. 

Two acts of the legislature distinguish this period; one 
securing the administration of the government, and another 
preventing the importation of negroes and Indians. By the 
first it was provided, upon the absence or death of the lieu- 
tenant governor, in absence of the governor-in-chief, that the 
eldest counsellor, or in case of his absence or refusal, a mem- 
ber chosen by a majority of the council, should exercise the 
functions of the governor, the powers of legislation only ex- 
cepted, until the return of the lieutenant-governor, or until 
another should be commissioned by the proprietary: and in 
the event of the death of the governor-in-chief, the powers 
of his deputy were continued, until revoked by the crown or 
proprietary. By the second, a further step was taken, to re- 
sist the increase of domestic slavery. Their efforts on this 
subject are not more honourable to the humanity than to the 
wisdom of the province. They have secured to it the noble 
distinction, of having led the way to the abolition of this 
nefarious traffic, and of having preserved its inhabitants from 
the ceaseless watchings, and anxious cares, resulting from 
internal enemies, who wait only a favourable moment to re- 
turn the embittered chalice to the lips of their oppressors. 
Unfortunately for the interests of humanity, and the happi- 
ness of the North American states, this wise and virtuous 
measure was inconsistent with the policy of the mother coun- 
try, and was annulled by the crown. The slave trade had 
been cherished by England since the year 1562; several 
companies were incorporated for conducting it, and Charles 
II. had publicly invited his subjects to engage in it, with the 
special view of supplying the plantations with negroes; and 
whilst the philanthropic sages of Pennsylvania were contem- 
plating the cheering picture of emancipation, the British 
ministry was plotting the widest extension of human misery, 
in forming the Assiento convention, the most accursed of con- 
tracts, by which their merchants obtained the exclusive pri- 
vilege for thirty years, of supplying Spanish America with 



1712] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 165 

four thousand eight hundred negro slaves annually. The act 
of Pennsylvania, had its principles been felt by the English 
government, must have been considered as a severe reflection 
on their conduct; but it is probable that it was regarded in 
no other light than an interference with the commercial inte- 
rest of the nation.* 

With increasing years and declining faculties, the love of 
repose came upon the proprietary. From the government of 
Pennsylvania he had derived little pecuniary advantage. 
Time and absence had loosened the bonds of affection which 
connected him with the early settlers. Thousands were now 
in the province who knew him not, and were indisposed to 
yield their own interests to their affection or respect for him. 
His rights were critically examined, and the distinction now 
established between his characters of governor-in-chief and 
proprietary, deprived him of many sources of revenue, which, 
as feudal lord, he held to be personal rights. The prices of 
tavern licenses, and the fines and forfeitures estreated, were 
now claimed for the public service. His deputy was consi- 
dered by the people as representing fully his political power, 
and rendering official intercourse with him unnecessary; 
and the veto he claimed in legislation was denied by the as- 
sembly. His expostulatory epistle of 1710, it was true, had 
awakened the slumbering gratitude of the colonists, but this 
sentiment was evanescent, and faded before the increasing 
subjects of contention ; it had not been sufficiently lasting to 
exclude from the public councils, for more than a single year, 
his most active opponents. In Europe he was harassed by 
pecuniary embarrassment, and his love of action had sunk 
with his political importance, which did not survive his suc- 
cessful efibrts to protect his religious friends, in the undis- 
turbed exercise of their faith. Under these circumstances 
his resolution to cede his government to the crown was not 
extraordinary. He entered into an agreement for this pur- 
pose, the consideration of which was twelve thousand pounds, 
payable in four years, and received one thousand on account. 

* Walsh's Appeal, and the authorities there cited. Smollet. 



166 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1713 



But before the legal forms were completed, an apoplectic 
stroke prostrated his vigorous mind, and reduced him to the 
feebleness of infancy. 

The intention of the proprietary to transfer the govern- 
ment, appears to have been deeply regretted by governor 
Gooldn, who, anticipating to be removed, endeavoured to 
interest the assembly in his misfortune, and to obtain from 
them prompt payment of his salary, and the means of trans- 
porting himself to Europe, where he considered his presence 
necessary to refute certain calumnies, which he attributed to 
his indulgence of the wishes of the people. The house pre- - 
sented him with one hundred and fifty pounds, in grateful 
acknowledgment of his services. 

The laws having become voluminous and complex, requir- 
ed some other mode of publication than a placard at the coffee 
house. A committee composed of Richard Hill, Samuel 
Preston, Caleb Pusey, and John Swift, were appointed to col- 
late and digest them, and to publish five hundred copies. 

Of the laws enacted in the years 1709, 10 and 12, twenty- 
eight were repealed by the queen, embracing almost all in 
which the people had taken a lively interest; such were the 
acts fixing the value of coins, establishing the judiciary, re- 
gulating f^es, imposing duties on wine and spirits, prohibiting 
the importation of negro and Indian slaves. The reasons for 
abrogating these laws were not transmitted, but we conjec- 
ture the nature of some of the objections. Those relating to 
the act prohibiting the importation of slaves we have already 
noticed. To the same jealous spirit of commerce we must 
ascribe the repeal of all acts, which, in the language of the 
governor, laid " a burden on trade," whilst the land and poll 
tax received the ready assent of the queen. The judiciary 
bill was a compromise between the proprietary and popular 
interests, and most probably was opposed by the former be- 
fore the throne. Upon notification of the repeal, the gover- 
nor published an ordinance for the administration of justice, 
embracing most of the provisions of the repealed act. Al- 
though the assembly did not oppose this measure with their 
former warmth, they endeavoured to persuade him to recall 



17143 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 167 

it, as the powers given to the judges by their commissionSj 
and the royal charter, rendered it unnecessary, and it might 
offend the queen, being in effect the re-enactment of a system 
which she disapproved. In its place, they recommended a 
proclamation to the judges to convene the courts at the usual 
time and places, and to continue the pleas over; and the suc- 
ceeding assembly applied themselves diligently to establish, 
by a new act, the several courts of the province. 

Queen Anne died on the first of August, 1714, and was 
succeeded by George tte first. Official notice of her decease 
was not received in the colony at the meeting of the legis- 
lature in October, and the house deemed it proper to adjourn, 
that their declaration of allegiance might be made to the 
reigning sovereign. 

Governor Gookin had for several years preserved uninter- 
rupted harmony between himself and the assembly. In mat- 
ters of legislation he was content to follow their wishes, 
occasionally calling their attention to public bills, which were 
delayed from the pressure of private business. Poor, penu- 
rious, and dependent upon the province, his own wants were 
ever present, and have a conspicuous place in most of his ad- 
dresses to the house. Sometimes these were humbly urged, 
and their relief thankfully acknowledged; at others, his claims 
are more strongly pressed, and their procrastination sharply 
reproved. His annual allowance may be averaged at five 
hundred pounds, payable out of the funds produced from the 
direct-tax and the customs.* But taxes of every description 
were slowly and irregularly collected. Appropriations made 
in one year, on which he relied for immediate support, were 
frequently not half paid at the close of the next. For seve- 
ral years he submitted patiently to disappointment and de- 
privation, but at length he became peevish and capricious. 
On the fifteenth of February, 1714, by reason of bad weather, 
and the illness of several members, the house failed to make 

* The proprietary had engaged to pay him two hundred pounds per an- 
num, without any fines, forfeitures, or other perquisites, in full, for his ser- 
vices. Gookin was a bachelor, and chosen because he was a cheap governor. 
Logan MSS. 



jgg HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1715 

a quorum; but being full on the next day, they appointed a 
committee to inform him of the occurrence of the preceding 
day, and to declare their readiness now to proceed with busi- 
ness. But he sullenly and repeatedly refused to recognise 
them. This treatment was the more offensive, as such acci- 
dental breaches, in the order of their sessions, had frequently 
happened since 1709, and were instantly repaired, either by 
a summons from the governor, or his formal approbation of 
their subsequent meeting. The house, therefore, in a remon- 
strance prepared by Lloyd, strenuously maintained their right 
to proceed with the public business. But their committee, 
charged with this address, were driven from the governor s 
door, with threats and reproaches. The house, compelled to 
separate, vindicated their conduct in their usual manner, by 
publishing their proceedings at the exchange. They were 
convened by the governor on the third of August, but they 
passed no bill during their year of service. 

In the succeeding year, Lloyd was again elected speaker; 
and, though the intercourse between the house and the go- 
vernor was marked by many petty quarrels, the business of 
the province was not impeded. One of the causes of com- 
plaint, on the part of the assembly, was the governor s negli- 
gence in punishing some rioters, who endeavoured to protect 
a certain clergyman, indicted for fornication, from legal pro- 
secution, on the ground that this offence was of ecclesiastical 
cognizance only. And the house deemed it necessary to re- 
mind him, that such offences in Pennsylvania - were triable 
in the quarter sessions;" and they resolved, that whoever 
endeavoured to persuade the governor, or any other, that the 
court of quarter sessions, as by law established, had not cog- 
nizance of such offences, should be deemed enemies to the 
governor and government. 

Whatever regard the province may have entertained for 
the governor, in consequence of his occasional favourable 
disposition towards the popular party, was destroyed by a mea- 
sure, which momentarily unhinged all the subordinate autho- 
rities. An act, which had passed in 1710, directing affirma- 
tions to be administered to persons conscientiously scrupulous 



!716] HISTOHY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 169 

of taking an oath, had been repealed by the queen, but was 
supplied by another, passed on the twenty-eighth of May, 
1715, to which the governor gave his sanction in the usual 
form. By an act of parliament of 1 Geo. I. the stat. of 7 
and S Wil. III. was made perpetual in Great Britain, and was 
extended to the colonies for five years. By a provision of the 
latter act, no Quaker, hy virtue thereof, could,;be qualified, 
or permitted to give evidence in any criminal case, or serve on 
juries, or hold any place or office of profit in the government. 
The extension of this act to the provinces, in the opinion of the 
governor, repealed the provincial law, and disqualified the 
Quakers from giving testimony in criminal cases, from sitting 
on juries, and from holding any office. If this were true, 
the consequences were perplexing and disastrous. Almost 
all the offices in the province were filled by Quakers; and 
the judges of the supreme court, who were not lawyers, 
staggered by the opinions of the governor, hesitated to pro- 
ceed in their official duties, in which it was necessary to re- 
ceive affirmations, or to stop the current of justice. The 
governor tenaciously adhered to his construction of the sta- 
tute, notwithstanding the desertion of his council, and the 
remonstrances of the assembly; who directed copies of their 
memorial to be forwarded to England, Lloyd, on the part 
of the house, contended, that the object of the first settlers 
and other Quakers, in emigrating to America, was to enjoy 
the privileges of English subjects, without violence to their 
religious principles, and that this was utterly destroyed by the 
governor's construction of the statute: that the act of William 
III. was affirmative, granting privileges to the Quakers in 
Great Britain, which they had not before possessed; and 
that its extension to the plantations did not deprive their 
inhabitants of the rights they enjoyed before its enactment, 
but confirmed such as were acknowledged; the prohibitory 
clause, in its utmost extent, only preventing the Quakers 
from claiming, by virtue of the act, the powers and benefits 
it prohibited: that to these the Quakers had a natural right, 
confirmed by the provincial laws warranted by their charter, 
which were efficient for five years, unless repealed by the 
22 



\70 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1716 

king in council, or repugnant to the laws of England: that 
the provincial act, authorizing affirmations, like the laws 
punishing crimes, and regulating the descent of real estates, 
differed from, but was not repugnant to, the English law: 
that this construction was corroborated, by the proclamation 
pf queen Anne, extending to the province the affirmation 
allowed to Quakers, by the statute of William, not only for 
the purposes embraced hy that act, but also for the qualifi- 
cation of magistrates and other officers; by the opinions of 
general Hunter, governor of New York and New Jersey, 
and of the chief justice of the latter colony, in a direct parallel 
case; and by the instructions of the king to general Hunter, 
following, in all points, those established in the proclamation 
of the late queen. These views he further supported by 
cases industriously collected from the law reporters. This 
vexatious subject was finally put to rest in the year 1725, 
when an act, prescribing the form of declaration of fidelity, 
abjuration, and affirmation, having passed in the province, 
was ratified by the king in council. 

The governor's good genius had now entirely abandoned 
him. Not content with arraying against himself all the 
Quaker interest in the province, he contrived to give it spe- 
cial activity, by assailing the political character of Isaac Norris 
and James Logan, the most distinguished men of that society, 
and of the colony; the former now mayor of Philadelphia, 
and speaker of the assembly. He charged them with disaf- 
fection to his majesty's government, and devotion to the pre- 
tender; and declared that the breach between Norris and 
himself was in comsequence of his refusal to proclaim that 
prince. Tbese allegations were without a shadow of proof 
or probability. Nor did the governor's infatuation stop here. 
He dared to protect, by a 7iolle prosequi, a wretch, by the 
name of Lowden, who attempted to assassinate Logan and 
Norris, for having, asjudges of the common pleas, rendered 
judgment against him.* 

Ofiences like these, against the dearest interests, and the 

* Votes. Proud. 



1716J HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 171 

most distinguished citizens, of the province, called loudly 
for the removal of Gookin, from a station he had become un- 
worthy to fill. Isaac Norris, with some other friends of the 
proprietary, waited on the deputy-governor, and mildly ex- 
postulated with him on the inconsistency and ill consequences 
of his conduct. Affected by their representations, he gave 
them assurances of amendment, but his weakness and fickle- 
ness rendered his resolution vain. Much of his folly v^^as 
ascribed to the influence of his relation, one Birmingham, 
after whom a township in Bucks county was named, who, 
though himself a vain and shallow man, had much alacrity of 
spirit, and obtained entire mastery over the sluggish temper 
of Gookin. Expostulation having proven vain, in restoring 
the governor to a sense of propriety, his council unanimously 
joined in an address to William Penn, praying his recall.* He 
met the assembly, for the last time, in March, 1717, and ex- 
torted from their compassion the sum of two hundred pounds, 
a valedictory donation. On the arrival of Keith, Gookin's 
successor, he was called to substantiate his charges against 
Logan and Norris before the council. But he openly re- 
tracted them, and ascribed his conduct to mental derange- 
ment. It is probable, that his understanding had been impaired 
for several years before his dismissal.! 

The imputation on the loyalty of Norris and Logan, in- 
duced the assembly to address the king, and the preparation 
of the address was confided to the former. This paper shows 
that the language of courts was neither unknown nor con- 
temned by the primitive settlers of Pennsylvania. Ascribing 
the tardiness of their congratulation, on his accession to the 
throne, to the illness of the proprietary, they declared, that 
none could be more sensible of the blessings it conferred, nor 
express a warmer zeal for his service, than had filled their 
thankful breasts; and that they consoled themselves, for not hav- 
ing sooner approached him, by the reflection, that their sen- 
timents were expressed by the society in London, whose 
address was in behalf of the whole community of Friends: 

* Logan MSS. f Minutes of council. 



175 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [^i7if 



that such had been his goodness, exerted by a wise and steady 
administration, in making the laws his rule of government, 
in restoring the honour of the nation abroad, and extending 
its commerce, that the remotest parts of his dominions felt 
the benign influence of his paternal affection, and were bound 
to make the utmost returns of gratitude and obedience; and 
that, therefore, they were surprised that a portion of the 
British race were so lost to a sense of its own interest, and 
its duty to a prince of the most conspicuous and consummate 
virtues, as to murmur, much more, to rise in open and unna- 
tural rebellion, for the suppression of which, they, with hearts 
of sincere gratitudeand joy, returned Iheir humble acknowledg- 
ments to the Fountain of infmite goodness and mercy : that their 
principles were so essentially interwoven with the protestant 
interests of Great Britain, and their greatest concerns so en- 
tirely dependent upon the preservation of his majesty's per- 
son and royal issue, long to reign over them, that their own 
welfare could not possibly be separated from the indispensa- 
ble duty of showing themselves his loyal and most obedient 
subjects: and they prayed, that confusion and disappointment 
might attend all the devices of his enemies, and that the minds 
of his people might be composed, and universally inspired 
with the same spirit of love and obedience, with which they 
approached the throne. 

Sir William Keith succeeded governor Gookin in May, 

1717. But, in order that we may not break in upon the 
narrative of his administration, we will anticipate our chro- 
nological order, and notice here an afflicting dispensation of 
Providence, in the death of William Penn. 

That great and good man died at Rushcomb, near Twy- 
ford, Buckinghamshire, England, on the thirtieth of July, 

1718. As a leader of a Christian sect, he has left no mean 
reputation. His ability, courage, zeal, and perseverance, 
have made him conspicuous among religious reformers; but, 
as an apostle of civil liberty, the world has an interest in him 
which can never fade, whilst order and freedom are dear to 
the human race. 



1717] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 173 

From his father, he inherited a disposition ardent and en- 
thusiastic, enterprising and courageous, reflecting and perse- 
vering. The energy of mind which advanced the one to the 
rank of rear-admiral at twenty-three years of age, rendered the 
other conspicuous amid the founders of a new religion, soon 
after he attained his majority. The father was distinguished 
by the love of glory and of arms; the son was not insensible 
to the value of fame, but sought it by diffusing the blessings of 
peace, and of religious and civil liberty. In this work, he la- 
boured with the firmness and devotion of heroism, struggling to 
attain its object, utterly regardless of himself. His voluntary 
abandonment of rank and fortune, his spirited and manly op- 
position to the abuses of the law, his patience under its in* 
flictions, his learning, industry, and perseverance, in the 
maintainance of his principles, acquired for him in early life 
the respect of the public, and the friendship of men of emi- 
nence and worth who did not approve his religious peculiari- 
ties. His religion made him obnoxious to the laws, and 
induced him to examine the principles on which, not only the 
laws, but the government that enacted them, were founded: 
and he discovered and adored the great truths, that the hap- 
piness of society is the true object of civil power, and that 
freedom exists only ^^ where the laws imle, and the people 
are parties to the laws." 

On these foundations was his colony erected. His merit 
will be the more justly appreciated by adverting to the state 
of the American colonies planted antecedently to the year 
17S0. These were Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode 
Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, 
Virginia, and South Carolina. The New England provinces 
sprang from the natural and selfish desires of their founders 
to withdraw themselves from power and oppression. Reli- 
gious toleration, and civil liberty, were not appreciated by them 
as rights essential to the happiness of the human race. The 
rights of conscience the puritans of these provinces demanded 
were such as protected themselves from the gibbet and lash, 
which they applied to force the consciences of others. Their civil 



174 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [iTlf 

rights they regarded as exclusive property, acquired by pur- 
chase, the evidence of which was in their charter. Whilst 
Pena was oflfering to the world a communion of religious 
and civil freedom, the saints of Massachusetts excluded from 
the benefits of their government all who were not members 
of their church, and piously flagellated or hanged those who 
were not convinced of its infallibility. Roger Williams, 
proscribed and expelled for his own opinions, was the first 
to teach that the civil magistrate might not interfere in re- 
ligious matters, and that to punish men for opinion was per- 
secution. New York, without a charter or an assembly, was 
subject to the caprice of its governors, in civil as in ecclesi- 
astical matters. New Jersey had a free, a liberal, but an im- 
practicable constitution. The attempt to establish in that 
province the basis of a free government, though unsuccess- 
ful, and throwing the administration into the hands of the 
crown, was not useless. The people were introduced to the 
knowledge of sound political principles, which were never 
altogether abandoned. Maryland, possessing the most libe- 
ral, and the best digested, constitution that has emanated from 
a British monarch, and the most independent of the royal 
power, had been involved in civil war and religious persecu- 
tions during the revolution, and was now reduced to order 
and good government, by the resumption of executive power 
by the Calverts. But the Catholic faith of its governors 
and principal inhabitants, rendered its policy suspected by 
Protestants. Carolina was the subject of a most fanciful ex- 
periment of the renowned Locke, who framed for it an aris- 
tocratical constitution, totally inconsistent with the light of 
the age in which he lived; establishing an hereditary nobility, 
with large and unalienable landed estates, and the church of 
England as the religion of the state. Penn wisely modelled 
the royal charter for his province, as closely as possible upon 
the Maryland grant; and, though at the first institution of 
the government, he was doubtful of the propriety of giving 
the assembly the power to originate laws, experience soon 
taught him the wisdom of this measure. His government 
secured the blessings of property and personal freedom alike 



17173 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA," 175 

to Christian and to infidel; placed all persons on an equality 
before the laws, and admitted Christians of every denomina- 
tion to a full participation of political rights. The experience 
of a hundred and forty -seven years, during which political sci- 
ence has been widely extended, has added nothing essential to 
human happiness which his system had not provided; unless 
it be found in those constitutions which make no discrimi- 
nation in the religious faith of the citizens. 

But the excellence of Penn's system is not confined to the 
provisions of his charters. His laws were dictated by wis- 
dom and humanity. The unequal and dangerous disposition 
of wealth, arising from the feudal principles of primogeni- 
ture, was abolished; the equal claims of children to the pro- 
perty of their common parent were acknowledged, and by 
this return to common sense and natural right, the dangers of 
accumulated wealth were avoided. But the philosophical 
mind of the Pennsylvania lawgiver is, perhaps, most discerni- 
ble in his criminal code. A scale, graduating the punishment 
to the offence, seemed in Europe to be undesired by the le- 
gislator. Death impended alike over the purloiner of a few >i 
grains of metal, and the murderer, who robbed a family of its > 
support, and the country of a citizen; over the infraction of a ) 
revenue law, and the attempt to subvert the state. Death 
was ever ready to ofi*er himself to the indolence of the law- 
giver, who found it less laborious to hang than to reclaim 
the criminal; to apply a common punishment, than to inves- 
tigate its propriety. Reason revolts at this indiscriminate 
punishment, and the humanity of the marquis Beccaria, Mon- 
tesquieu, and others, have contributed to convince the world, 
that its welfare is best promoted by a due apportionment of 
the punishment to the crime, and its certain application to 
the offender. Before these benevolent theorists gave their 
labours to the public — before they were born — Penn had prac- 
tically exhibited the beneficial results of the principles which 
they have advocated. He established a new code, in which 
the punishment of death was affixed to murder only; injuries 
to individuals were punished by compelling the criminal to 
make an adequate compensation to the party grieved, or by 



176 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1717 

imprisonment at hard labour; in all cases varying the punish- 
ment with the enormity of the offence. In the classification 
of crimes, there are, perhaps, some errors, inseparable from 
enthusiasm; but humanity and wisdom are eminently con- 
spicuous in the legislator. The boldness and originality of 
his genius will be more thoroughly understood by a glance 
at the policy of the age and country in which he lived. 
I When he composed his plan of government, the despotic 
' principles of the Stuarts were prevailing over the nation, 
\ liberty of conscience was proscribed by the laws, and almost 
/ every crime was punishable by death. In opposition to all 
[ this, he dared to consult his own reason, and follow the dic- 
tates of his own judgment, the soundness of which every re- 
volving year has confirmed. 

Penn was ambitious, and animated by the love of fame. 
He sacrificed his time and his fortune in its pursuit; at least 
so much of them as was unnecessarily employed at the courts 
of James and Anne. The obscurity of his province was un- 
attractive; and, in the height of his favour with James, he 
was for a moment unregardful of the free principles on which 
it was founded. Had he applied himself, unreservedly and 
exclusively, to cultivate the scion he had planted, its growth 
would have been more rapid; and, under its shade, distant 
from the vexations and vicissitudes of English politics, he 
would have enjoyed the revv^ard of his labour, competence, 
and the respect of the world. Pecuniary distress, at times, 
compelled him to give utterance to undignified and unjust 
complaints. The political benefits he had conferred upon his 
province, in his opinion, imposed on its inhabitants an obli- 
gation to be requited with money: his proprietary character 
claimed to be recognised by the establishment of some reve- 
'■ nue. His people, on the contrary, felt these pretensions as 
a double charge, and were unwilling to maintain a resident 
and non-resident governor, the latter of whom had an estate 
in the soil of the province, which increased in a great and 
indefinable ratio. 

In his demeanour, William Perm was grave, but not aus- 
tere; affable, but not familiar; and, whilst his intercourse 



17173 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 177 

with his friends was marked by the formality and peculiar 
phraseology in use with his sect, his correspondence with 
men of the world showed him to have been perfectly ac- 
quainted with polite manners. As a vvriter, he was much 
esteemed by his church; as a minister, he was bold, indus- 
trious, and successful; he was beloved by his family and a 
wide circle of friends. He had been twice married. His 
first wife was Gulielma Maria Springett, daughter of sir Wil- 
liam Springett, of Darling, in Sussex. The fruit of this mar- 
riage was two sons and one daughter; Springett, William, 
and Letitia. Springett died in 1696, aged twenty-one years; 
William and Letitia, and three grand-children, children of 
his son William, survived him. His second wife was Han- 
nah, daughter of Thomas Callowbill, of Bristol, by whom he 
had five children; John, Thomas, Margarette, Richard, and 
Dennis, who, with their mother, were living at their father's 
death. 

At his decease, his province was encumbered by his mort- 
gage of 1708, and his contract with the crown for the sale of 
the government. His will, dated 1712, was made antece- 
dently to, but in contemplation of, this contract. He pro- 
vided for the issue of his first marriage, by the devise of his 
English and Irish estates; which, producing fifteen hundred 
pounds sterling per annum, were estimated of greater value 
than his American possessions. From the latter, he made 
provision for the payment of his debts, and for his widow 
and her children. The government of the province and ter- 
ritories he devised to the earls of Oxford, JNIortimer, and 
Pawlet, in trust, to sell to the queen, or any other person. 
His estate in the soil he devised to other trustees, in trust, to 
sell so much as should be necessary for the payment of his 
debts; to assign to his daughter Letitia, and the three chil- 
dren of his son William, ten thousand acres each, and to 
convey the remainder, at the discretion of his widow, to her 
children, subject to an annuity to herself of three hundred 
pounds sterling per annum. He appointed her sole execu- 
trix, and legatee of bis personal estate. 
23 



178 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l718 

Three questions arose on his devise of the government: 
1, Whether it was valid against the heir-at-law, who claimed 
by descent? 2, Whether the object of the trust had not 
been already effected, by the contract of the proprietary with 
the queen ? 3, Whether, by consequence, his interest was 
not converted into personality ? In which case it passed in 
absolute property to the widow. From their doubts on these 
points, the trustees refused to act, unless under a decree of the 
court of chancery, whose interposition was also required by 
the commissioners of the treasury, before payment of the 
balance due on the purchase, to the executrix. A suit in 
this court was accordingly instituted, which kept the family 
property in a state of great uncertainty for many years; during 
which Mrs. Penn, as executrix and trustee, assumed the su- 
perintendence of provincial affairs. In the year 1727, the 
family disputes, the proprietary's will having been established 
in the exchequer, were compromised; and the crown lawyers 
and ministry concurring in opinion, that the proprietary's 
agreement was void, from his inability to make a proper sur- 
render of the government, it devolved, on the death of Wil- 
liam Penn the younger and his son Springett, to John, Tho- 
mas, and Richard Penn. 



CHAPTER X. 

Popular principles of Sir William Keith.-.-Favourable dispo- 
sition of the assembly. ..Fiscal concerns-.. .Inspection laws 
— . Court of Equity.. ..Militia-.. .Change in the assembly.... 
Increase of Foreigners.... Indian disputes....An Indian mur- 
dered.-.Servants---Wantof a circulating medium-. -.Re- 
medies proposed.--Paper currency.--Committee of Griev- 
ance- ---Gratitude of the assembly to Keith-..- Fugitives 
from justice.. ..Further emission of paper- --Counterfeit 
bills-. ..Impediments by the crown to the passage of private 
acts of assembly.. ..Indian complaints. ...Proprietaries dis- 
approve Keith's conduct.. .-Logan divides the council 

againsthim-.-Pretensionsofthe minority-. --Logan removed 
from council— .Hannah Penn reprehends Keith.. -Letters 
from Gouldney and Gee-. -Keith's reply.. -Communicates 
his instructions and correspondence to the assembly.. -Is 
removed-. ..His character. 

Ir governor Gookin were unfortunate in the general dis- 
affection of the people he governed, governor Keith was 
happy in their esteem and confidence. He was the son of 
vSir William Keith, of the north of Scotland, and had for 
some time held the office of his majesty's surveyor of the 
customs for the southern provinces, yielding a salary of five 
hundred pounds sterling per annum. He occasionally visited 
Philadelphia, interested himself in the political discussions 
of the province, and acquired the good will of Messrs. Logan 
and Norris, and other respectable inhabitants. In London he 
had rendered the province and proprietary family considerable 
services. The illness of William Penn had deprived both of 
an agent at courtj the laws of the province sent for the appro- 
bation of the crown, moved languidly through the offices, and 
the insinuations and scandals of those who desired to strip the 



ISO HISTORY OV PENNSYLVANIA. [1717 

proprietary of his political power, and there were still many 
of tills character ia the province and territories, were fre- 
quently undetected and unrepelled. Keith aided the passage 
of the provincial laws, and supported the proprietary inte- 
rests. He solicited the appointment of lieutenant-governor 
at some considerable expense; the fees in the offices, on ob- 
taining the king's confirmation of such appointments, being 
large, and every attempt to reach the throne requiring expen- 
diture of money. He was recommended to the proprietary 
family (whose interest in the province was managed by Mrs. 
Hannah Penn and her uncle Clements, assisted by Henry 
Gouldney, and his fellow trustees, in the mortgage,) by the 
provincial council and chief inhabitants, by their friends in 
London, and by the influence, at this time not very service- 
able, of William Penn, Jun. who formally addressed letters 
in his favour to the council, the commissioners of property, 
and secretary Logan. Mrs. Penn assented to his appoint- 
ment, cheerfully, she said, from a conviction of his capacity, 
although she lost thereby the sum of two hundred and fifty 
pounds, which was offered her to appoint another.* 

The deputy governors of the province had heretofore taken 
little pains to conciliate the people. Dependent upon the 
proprietary for their office, and on the crown for future em- 
ployment, they considered themselves as bailiffs for the one, 
and were place-hunters from the other. Hence, the gover- 
nors were exacting, and the governed jealous and reluctant 
to <^ive. The governor had to elaborate his maintainance 
from a people barely disposed to yield him a frugal support, 
but without sympathy for wants generated by dignity of 
place or the pomp of power. Hence the high tone which the 
instructions of the proprietary occasioned, was frequently 
followed by ill-timed humility; and the respect of the people 
was exchanged for pity or contempt. No governor had yet 
ventured to embrace the popular party, or to support its in- 
terest with the proprietary and the crown, on disputed sub- 
jects. This wa^ reserved for Sir. William Keith, who 



* Logan MSS. 



J717J HISTOUy OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



181 



thoroughly studied the errors of his predecessors. He arriv- 
ed at Philadelphia on the thirty-first day of May. In a few 
days afterwards he met the assembly of the territories at 
Newcastle, and succeeded in obtaining from them a memo- 
rial to the king, in favour of the proprietary's claim to their 
government, although the conduct of Gookin had induced 
the inhabitants to solicit the appointment of a royal gover- 
nor. Their discontents were excited by James Coutts, an 
ambitious and wealthy inhabitant, who desired that office for 
himself, and by Kenneth Gordon, a Scotch adventurer, who 
had the like ambition, and who was attached to the interest 
of lord Sutherland; that nobleman, availing himself of the 
doubts which hung over the proprietary's political rights in 
the territories, and some informality in the grants from the 
crown to the duke of York, having earnestly solicited the king 
for a grant of the soil and government of the territories. But 
he was successfully opposed by the earl of Sunderland, who 
supported the interests of William Penn.* 

Keith displayed the policy he meant to pursue in his first 
address to the assembly. "His tender regard for their inte- 
rest," he said, "they being engaged in harvest at his arrival, 
had induced him to postpone the satisfaction he proposed 
to himself in meeting the assembly; and he should always 
endeavour to make the time they must necessarily bestow on 
the public service as easy and pleasant to them, as he hoped 
it would be profitable and satisfactory to the country. If an 
afiectionate desire to oblige and serve the people could qualify 
him for his station, he might expect that his and the country's 
interest would be effectually united, as those who sincerely 
desired to serve either, must necessarily serve both. The 
warmth of his inclination towards them might be inferred 
from his expensive application during the last year, to intro- 
duce to the prince regent the humble address of the assembly 
to the king, which had been so graciously received by his 
exertions; by the diligence and expense with which he had 

* Logan MSS. 



182 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1718 

obtained his commission, without other prospect or advantage 
than that of serving them ; and by the fatigue he had already 
undergone to promote their service. But these things were 
trifles, compared with their indispensable obligation to sup- 
port the dignity and authority of the government, by such a 
reasonable and discreet establishment as the nature of the 
thing and their own generosity would direct; and whatever 
they might be disposed to do of that kind, he hoped might no 
longer bear the undeserved and reproachful name of a burthen 
on the people; but that they would rather enable him to re- 
lieve the country from real burdens, by empowering him to 
introduce a better economy and more frugal management in 
the collection of taxes, which were then squandered by the 
officers appointed to assess and collect them."* 

The assembly testified their satisfaction with this speech, 
and his kind and conciliatory manners, by an immediate 
grant of five hundred and fifty pounds, payable from the first 
monies received in the treasury, which they replenished by 
an additional bill of supply. t In return, Keith framed an 
address to the throne on the interesting subject of affirma- 
tions, which had the good fortune to please the house in all 
respects, save that the plural number was used instead of the 
singular. J 

In consequence of the death of the proprietary, governor 
Keith entertained doubts of the continuance of his powers; 
but th6se were speedily dissipated by the opinion of his 
council and the assembly, that the event of the proprietary's 
death was fully provided for, by the " act for further securing 
the administration of the government," passed on the seventh 
of June, 1711. He also received from William Pcnn the 
younger, a renewal of his commission, with a letter of in- 
structions, recommending the continuance of the existing 
council, the enactment of a militia law, so framed as to a^oid 
the oppression of the Quakers, and a strict observance of the 
rights and liberties of the people, especially of the law pro- 
tecting liberty of conscience. Professing himself a member 

* Votes. t Votes. Logan MSS. + Votes. 



17183 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 183 

of the Church of England, Mr. Penn directed Keith to en- 
courage and protect the clergy, to employ deserving members 
of that communion, and to discountenance all anti-trinitarians 
and libertines. Keith, believing the commission from the 
son to be illegal, apprized the secretary Craggs of his 
intention not to act under it, but to rely upon that of the 
father. This determination was approved by the lords of 
trade and plantations, and by the then lords regent, and his 
continuance in office confirmed.* These circumstances proved 
offensive to the Penn family, and perhaps caused Keith to 
believe that his office was independent of their powers.! 
William Penn also addressed himself to Mr. Logan, inclosing 
him a commission of secretary of the province, soliciting a 
renewal of their former friendly intercourse, and proffering 
his services in the agency of the province in London. He 
died at Calais or Leige, from disease brought on by dissipa- 
tion and intemperance, in March, 1720. His proprietary 
rights passed to his son Springett, who did not long survive 
him. J 

The industry and politic conduct of the governor contri- 
buted greatly to the regularity and facility of the public 
labours. The wants of the government were timely ascer- 
tained, and regularly and properly supplied. The public 
charges may be classed under the following heads: 1. Legis- 
lative; consisting of the wages of the members of assembly, 
their servants and attendants, and the sums paid to counsel 
for drawing bills. The principle of a per diem compensation 
had been adopted by the early assemblies, and varied from 
six to eight shillings; the former sum was paid during the 
greater part of Keith's administration. 2. The executive; 
embracing the governor's salary, which, for eight years, 
averaged nine hundred and fifty pounds perannum;§ the com- 

• Penn. Records. Logan MSS. f Hamilton Papers MSS. i Lo- 

gan MSS. § Keith received in the first year sixteen hundred pounds, 

and his receipt in the subsequent years of his administration averaged 
eighteen hundred pounds. The difference between these sums, and the 
amount received from the assembly, was paid from tavern licenses, fines, 
and other perquisites. Hamilton MSS. 



184 HISTOKY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1719 

missions of the collectors of the customs and excise, and of 
the treasurer ; the former at ten, and the latter at five per 
cent. ; and the salary of the attorney-general, fixed at sixty 
pounds per annum. 3. The judiciary: In this department, 
for many years, the chief justice only received compensation 
from the treasury ; the other judges, both of the supreme and 
inferior courts, were remunerated by bench fees. This mode 
was oppressive to the people, and yielded but a miserable 
pittance to the officer. In 1725, on the petition of the jus- 
tices of the supreme court, the puisne judges were also 
allowed a salary, but the whole sum paid to the court did not 
exceed one hundred and fifty pounds per annum, of which 
the chief justice received two-thirds, though before that time 
he had received the whole for his own use. It was part of 
the labour of the judges of the supreme court to prepare bills 
upon resolutions adopted by the house, for which they re- 
ceived a separate remuneration. 4. Incidental; composed 
chiefly of presents and other charges of Indian treaties, and 
the maintainance of a provincial agent in London. The mean 
provincial expenditure for eight years of Keith's administra- 
tion, was fifteen hundred pounds per annum, defrayed by an 
impost on the nett value of real and personal estate, a poll 
tax, duties on the importation of wines, spirits, cider, flax, 
hops, and negroes, and by the interest on loan office bills. 

The agricultural produce becoming superabundant, and the 
foreign demand insufficient to draw off the excess, the enter- 
prise of the planter was discouraged, and many labourers, 
whose number was daily increased by the emigration from 
Europe, were unemployed. The remedy for these evils lay 
in increased consumption and export; and the exertions of 
the legislature were directed to both with distinguished suc- 
cess. An act was passed, forbidding, under heavy penalties, 
the use of molasses, sugar, honey, or other substances, save 
grain and hops, in the manufacture of beer; and distillers 
were encouraged to supply the consumption of ardent spirits 
from domestic materials. But to the improvement of the 
manufacture of flour, which now claimed great attention, 
Pennsylvania is mainly indebted for her increase of popula- 



1720] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 185 

tion aiitl wealth. The inspection laws, now adopted, esta- 
blished the character of her flour and her sailed provisions 
in foreign markets, and gave her a valuable part of the trade 
of the West Indies. 

The confidence of the province in Keith was almost with- 
out bounds. His influence sufficed to establish two measures, 
hitherto repugnant to the assembly; an equity court, de- 
pendent on the governor's will, of which he was chancellor, 
and a militia organized by like authority. The public opi- 
nion had been long declared in favour of a court of equity; 
the common-law courts had an equity side, but, either from 
the diversity of judgments rendered in different counties, or 
from want of learning in the judges, the people became dis- 
satisfied with the administration of law and equity by the 
same persons. Keith dexterously availed himself of these 
discontents. He informed the house of the public wishes, 
and that "he was advised by lawyers and others, that neither 
the assembly, nor the representatives of other colonies, had 
power to erect such a court; that the office of chancellor could 
legally be executed by himself only, who, by virtue of the 
great seal, was the representative of the king: yet he sub- 
mitted this opinion with great defeience to the house, by 
whose judgment he was desirous to be guided." The assem- 
bly cheerfully granted to this humility what they had refused 
to the arrogance of Evans. They requested Keith to open 
a court of equity, to appoint the necessary officers, and to 
establish the proper forms. Accordingly, he, by proclama- 
tion, directed such courts to be opened on the twenty-fifth of 
August, and to continue open, for the relief of the subject, 
in the determination of all matters regularly cognizable before 
a court of chancery, agreeably to the laws of England. (1)* 

(1) See Note F 2, Appendix. 

* Whilst presiding' in this court, in 1725, sir William Keith took ofTence 
at the conduct of John Kinsey, an eminent lawyer, and a Quaker, subse- 
quently chief justice of the province, who appeared before the court, in 
the transaction of business, with his hat upon his head. Keith ordered it 
to be taken oft"; which was accordingly done. The Quakers took this af- 
fair under consideration, and, at their quarterly meeting-, appointed a com- 
mittee to wait upon the governor, and to request the continuance of the 
24 



186 UISroilY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [^172(> 

The militia was permitted with great readiness, under a 
recommendation from the house, that the governor, in per- 
forming what he deemed his duty, would, with his wonted 
prudence, tal<e care that the militia service should be volun- 
tary, and that the peace of the inhabitants towards each other 
should be preserved. The popularity of the governor with 
the people, alarmed the friends of the proprietary family, 
who entertained suspicions of a design, on his part, to over- 
throw their power. William Ashton, a member of the coun- 
cil, and nearly related to the Penn family, wrote to William 
Penn,jr., and sent verbal messages, cautioning him to beware 
of the governor, and to rank him among his enemies. Keith, 
for this offence, expelled him from the council board, from 
which he was excluded for more than two years.* 

But, though Keith was courteous, nay, sometimes servile, 
towards the assembly, he had sufficient firmness to resist 
measures which were not sanctioned by his judgment. The 
influx of foreigners had become so great, as to alarm the as- 
sembly, who dreaded their settlement upon the frontier. 
Keith had turned the attention of the house to this subject, 
in the first year of his administration, but had prevailed upon 
them to postpone definite measures, until the sense of the 
royal council could be obtained. In the meantime, every at- 
tempt to naturalize foreigners was received with coldness. 
Even the Germans, whose industry and utility were prover- 
bial, could not remove the prevailing jealousy. Many pala- 
tines, long resident in the province, applied for naturalization 

privilege, to whicli they conceived themselves legally entitled, oi appear- 
ing in courts their own way, according to their religious persuasio?i. The 
address of the committee was filed in the court, with the order thereon, 
making it a standing rule of the court of chancery, tliat any practitioner of 
the law, or other person, being a Quaker, might speak or otherwise officiate 
in the said court, without being obliged to observe the usual ceremony 
of uncovering their heads, by having their h.^ts taken off." 

The following persons were masters in chancery, during the chancellor- 
ship of sir William Keith, viz: James Logan, Jonathan Dickenson, Samuel 
Treston, Richard Hill, Anthony Pahnei-, William Trent, Thomas Masters, 
Robert Ashton, AVilliam Ashton, John French, Andrew Hamilton, Henry 
Brooke, William Fishbournc, Thomas Grxme, and Evan Owen. 

• Minutes of council. 



1721] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 187 

in 1721. The consideration of their petition was procrasti- 
nated until 1724, when leave was granted them to bring in a 
bill, provided they should individually obtain from a justice 
of the peace a certificate of the value of their properly, and 
nature of their religious faith. The petitioners do not ap- 
pear to have been satisfied with this^condition; still the as- 
sembly of the following year sent a bill to the governor, 
embracing the offered terms. But he returned it instantly, 
objecting, that in a country where English liberty and law 
prevailed, a scrutiny into the private conversation and faith 
of the citizens, and particularly into their estates, was unjust, 
and dangerous in precedent. The house yielded to the force 
of his reasons,* and did not insist upon their bill, but it was 
some time before the subsiding of their jealousy permitted 
them to confer the privileges of subjects upon the palatines. 
Indeed, the timidity of the assembly induced them to check 
the importation of foreigners, by a duty on all coming to re- 
side in the province;! and, if there were any just cause to 
dread an increase of population, the numbers continually ar- 
riving miglit palliate the present policy. In one year from 
December, 1728, there were six thousand two hundred Ger- 
mans and others imported. J 

A disagreement relating to hunting-grounds, between the 
southern and Pennsylvania Indians, threatened to disturb the 
peace of the province. To avert this, Keith paid a visit to 
the governor of Virginia, with whom he framed a convention, 
confining the Indians resident on the north and south of the 
Potomac, to their respective sides of that river; which the 
Pennsylvania and P'ive nation Indians, at a general confe- 
rence, held at Conestoga on the sixth of July, 1721, fully 
ratified. This visit was made with much state. Keith was 
attended by a suit of seventy hoi'semen. many of them well 
armed, and was welcomed on his return, at the upper ferry 
on the Schuylkill, by the mayor and aldermen of the city, 
accompanied by two hundred of the most respectable citi- 
zens. § 

• Votes. f Mod. Hist. \ ibid. Minutes of council. ^ Proud. 



188 HISTORY OV PENNSYLVANIA. Pi 72 I 

The governor of Maryland prepared at this lime to make 
surveys on the Susquchannah, within the bounds claimed by 
Pennsylvania, and withhi the present county of York. Keith 
resolved to resist this attempt by force, and ordered out a 
militia company from Newcastle. His council, however, dis- 
couraged every resort to violence, even should the Mary- 
landers employ force to eflfect their object. The Indiaps became 
alarmed at the proposed encroachment from Maryland, and, 
after much hesitation, consented to convey to Keith, that he 
might have a better title to resist the Marylanders, a large 
tract of land, for the use of Springett Penn, the grandson of 
William Penn, afterwards known by the name of Springetl- 
bury manor.* 

The fears of the province were, soon after, again awakened, 
by a quarrel between two brothers, named Carlledge, and an 
Indian near Conestoga, in which the latter was killed, with 
many circumstances of cruelty. The known principles of 
revenge, professed by the Indians, gave reason to apprehend 
severe retaliation. Policy and justice required a rigid inquiry, 
and the infliction of exemplary punishment on the murderers. 
The assembly commanded a coroner's inquest to be holden 
on the body, though two months buried, in the interior of 
the country, and the arrest of the accused. Messengers were 
despatched to the Five nations, to deprecate hostility; and, 
to prevent further irregularities, the prohibition of the sale 
of spirituous liquors to the Indians was re-enacted, with ad- 
ditional penalties. The Indians invited Keith to meet them, 
with the governors of Virginia, New York, and the New 
England colonies, in council, at Albany; where, with great 
magnanimity, they pardoned the offence of the Cartledges, 
and requested they might be discharged without further punish- 
ment. The address of the king merits a place here. "The 
great king of the Five nations," said the re])orter, ^' is sorry 
for the death of the Indian that was killed, for he was of his 
own flesh and blood: he believes the governor is also sorry; 
but, now that it is done, there is no help for it. And he de- 

* Minutes of council. 



^722] HISTOUY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 189 

sires tliat Cartledge may not be put to death, nor that he 
should be spared for a time and afterwards executed; one life 
is enough to be lost,* there should not two die. The king's 
heart is good to the governor, and all the English." The 
governor was attended, on his journey to Albany, by Messrs. 
Hill, Norris, and Hamilton, of his council.* 

A part of the emigration to the colonies was composed of 
servants, who were of two classes. The first and larger, poor 
and oppressed in the land of their nativity, sometimes the 
victims of political changes, or religious intolerance, submit- 
ted to a temporary servitude, as the price of freedom, plenty, 
and peace: The second, vagrants and felons, the dregs of the 
British populace, were cast by the mother country upon her 
colonies, with the most selfish disregard of the feelings she 
outraged. From this moral pestilence the first settlers 
shrunk with horror. In 16S2 the Pennsylvania council 
proposed to prohibit the introduction of convicts, but the 
evil was then prospective to them only, and no law was 
enacted. t But an act was now passed, which, though not 
prohibitory in terms, was such in effect. A duty of five 
pounds was imposed upon every convicted felon brought into 
the province, and the importer was required to give surety 
for the good behaviour of the convict for one year; and to 
render these provisions effectual, the owner or master was 
bound under a penalty of twenty pounds, to render, on oath 
or affirmation, within twenty-four hours after the arrival of 
the vessel, an account to the collector of the names of the 
servants and passengers. But such account was not required 
when bond was given conditioned for the re-exportation of 
such servants within six months. 

Amid the greatest political prosperity, complaints were 
heard of commercial embarrassment. Employment was still \ 
difficult to be obtained: an adequate market was yet wanting 
for surplus produce; payment for the necessary articles of 
consumption was procrastinated; law-suits had greatly in- ' 
creased; and, above all, and what was said to be the cause ot 

* Votes. f Minutes of council. 



190 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [if 22 

all, there was a deficiency in the circulating medium. This 
deficiency grew out of the direct trade with England, the 
. least advantageous to the province. Her produce was not 
! there needed, her manufactures were prohibited, and the 
J specie, obtained from her other trade, was all necessary to 
' pay her English debt. An incessant drain produced a con- 
stant and increasing debility, requiring some substitute for 
specie in commercial exchange. Many remedies were pro- 
posed. An attempt was made to prevent the hiring out of 
slaves, who, working at reduced prices, prevented the em- 
ployment of freemen. The manufacture of beer and distilled 
spirits was further encouraged: Produce was made a legal 
tender in the payment of debts:* The rate of interest was 
reduced from eight to six per cent. : Executions for debt were 
stayed: and the value of the coin was raised twenty-five per 
cent. This last measure produced a partial relief, but operated 
unequally. The debtor paid his debts somewhat easier; but 
^ the design of preventing the export of gold and silver failed 
altogether, for English goods rose in value with the coin, 
\with regard to which, all new contracts were made. 

Keith proposed the creation of a paper currency. This 
had already been resorted to by Massachusetts, New York, 
and Carolina, with beneficial results, much lessened however 
by over issues, which caused its depreciation. Whilst the 
propriety of the measure was generally admitted, much dif- 
ference of opinion prevailed as to the amount to be issued, 
and the details of the plan. Debtors, in the hope of present 
relief, closed their eyes to the future, and saw no risk in any 
form or amount of paper money; others, convinced that the 
value of such paper depended on the solidity of its basis, and 
the measure of its extent, were solicitous in regard to the 
security, and disposed to redeem the paper issued by the go- 
vernment at stated periods, by public taxes. The legislature 
treated the subject with great prudence, giving ample time 
to the public to understand it, and bestowing due attention on 
every suggestion made to them. The measure, though pro- 

• Votes. 



1722] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 191 

posed in 1721, was not adopted until March, 1723, when the 
following plan was approved. 

Fifteen thousand pounds, in bills of credit, in value fronn 
one to twenty shillings, were issued by the government to 
borrowers, on pledge of plate or real estate, at five per cent 
per annum. Loans on plate were made for one year; and on 
fee simple estates in land or ground rents, for eight years; 
the applicant deposing that the estate offered was held in his 
own riglit, and had not been conveyed to him for the pur- 
pose of raising money on loan for others, and that it was 
clear of all incumbrances. The amount to be loaned to any 
individual was not less than twelve, nor more than one hun- 
dred pounds, unless, at the expiration of four months after 
opening the loan office, there should remain unloaned any 
part of the sum directed to be issued, when any one applicant 
might have two hundred pounds. The loans were to be re- 
paid by annual instalments of one-eighth, either in current 
money or bills of credit. Money thus received was to be 
apjjropriated to the purchase of other bills, and all bills re- 
turned to the loan office were to be sunk and destroyed. In 
default of payment, for two months after any instalment be- 
camedue, the mortgager was proceeded against by ^c/r^yacm*; 
if he did not appear at the return day, or appearing did not 
pay the money due, judgment was rendered, and execution 
awarded, on which the mortgaged premises were directed to 
be sold within one month. The bills were signed by agents 
expressly named in the act, and the loan office was placed 
under the care and management of four trustees. 

The bills were made current for eight years, and were a 
legal tender in all payments: a fine from thirty shillings to 
fifty pounds was inflicted on persons refusing to receive the 
paper, in sales of real and personal estate, at the value of gold 
and silver. Forgery of the bills was punished by the loss of 
ears, whipping, and a fine of one hundred pounds; or in case 
of inability to pay such fine, by sale of the offender, to labour 
for seven years. 

Of the sum issued, two thousand five hundred pounds was 
appropriated to the payment of the public debt, and fifteen 



192 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [^1723 



hundred was divided in loans among the several countie*. 
The loan to the treasury was to be reimbursed by the cus- 
toms and excise, and that to the counties by an annual tax of 
one penny per pound added to the usual county levy. 

A short experience proved the utility of the new currency, 
and the propriety of its extension. In the succeeding year 
(1723) a further sum of thirty thousand pounds was emitted 
on loans for twelve and a half years, in portions not exceed- 
ing two hundred pounds; unless after the expiration of eight 
months there should remain any part unloaned, and then m 
sums not exceeding five hundred pounds. But the distinctive 
feature of this new bill was a provision for re-emitting the 
paper on new loans (as it should be paid in) for the remain- 
der of the term, at the end of which the whole should be 
sunk. By the first act it was contemplated to preserve the 
credit of the currency by gradual absorption. But the neces- 
sity of this medium in trade, whilst the commercial relations 
between the colony and mother country continued as at pre- 
sent, was obvious; and as no change in these relations was 
probable, every pound drawn from the circulating medium 
yet insufficient to fill the void produced by the export of 
specie, was an approximation to the state from which the 
colony had just been partially relieved. This was remedied 
by the re-emission of the sum authorized by both acts. 

With a view further to improve the laws, and to remove 
all causes of complaint, the assembly raised a committee of 
grievance, composed of six members, with powers to send for 
persons and papers; to whom many petitions for new, or for 
the amendment of existing laws, were referred. Among 
them was one complaining of the " scandalous and wicked 
practice of negroes cohabiting with, and marrying white peo- 
ple;" and another " of the scandalous way of many unruly, 
scolding, and base women, calumniating and disturbing their 
neighbours." The first was remedied by a law forbidding 
such marriages; but though the legislature was disposed to 
remedy the second also, and actually authorized the petition- 
ers to bring in a bill for applying the ducking-stool to allay 
the fever of the termagants, it seems that they were content 



1724] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 193 

with the impression made by the fear of this ancient and ap- 
propriate punishment, and did not press the matter further. 

The services of Keith drew from the assembly such an 
acknowledgment as might well stimulate him to further ex- 
ertions. *'We are truly sensible," said they, "that the 
deliberations of an assembly, when governed by public spi- 
rit, cannot but conduce very much to the general interest 
of this province, especially, when they are so openly assured 
of the concurrence of a governor, who, upon all occasions, is 
ready to give the most sensible demonstrations that he has 
the interest of the country near at heart; and, as this gene- 
rous disposition of the governor, in the handsomest manner, 
leads us to a sense of our duty, so we cannot better show it 
than in a speedy provision to support the present adminis- 
tration." It is pleasant to give this example of union and 
cordiality between the constituted authorities of the province, 
as we have had, and shall have, hereafter, occasion to relate 
much of an opposite character. This was, indeed, a moment 
for kind feelings. The provincial debts were paid, much 
distress had been removed by the loans, additional capital 
was supplied to commerce, new prospects of business and 
wealth were opened, hope had succeeded to despondency, and 
timidity and sloth had given place to enterprise and exer- 
tion. 

The good sense and talents of the governor were also a^- * 
eited to reduce an effervescence of the assembly, in conse- 
quence of a trespass upon the Pennsylvania soil, by the inha- 
bitants of the territories, in the execution, by hue-and-cry, of 
a criminal warrant. liejustifved the conduct of the territo- 
rial officers, in passing the boundary line, even where dis- 
tinctly known, by the acknowledged practice among the 
colonies, without which it would be impossible to arrest of- 
fenders, who could find an asylum in every colony. 

Soon after the emission of the bills of credit, several coun- 
terfeits were discovered. To prevent future imposition, the 
bills were ordered by the house to be printed with the figure 
of a crown upon those of five shillings, two crowns on those 
of ten, three crowns on those of fifteen, and four crowns on 
25 



194 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l724 

those of twenty, shillings. This simple device was held to 
afford sufficient protection against fraud, in the state of the 
arts and of morals, at that period, in the province. (1) 

The powers of the legislature were at this time much con- 
fined by the instructions of the crown to the governor; which 
he communicated to the assembly, in justification of his re- 
fusal to sanction a bill conferring some commercial privileges 
on individuals. He was commanded to withhold his assent 
from private acts, until proof should be made before him, in 
council, of public notice having been given of the party's 
intention to apply for such an act, and unless it contained a 
clause, suspending its execution until his majesty's pleasure 
should be known. This restriction was vexatious. No act 
of incorporation could be passed, no special encouragement 
could be given to the enterprise of individuals, without de- 
lay and uncertainty. Even the naturalization of foreigners 
was impeded; the governor considering bills for that pur- 
pose within the letter of his instructions. 

The Indians on the Brandywine creek, by their deputies, 
complained to the assembly of injuries sustained by the en- 
croachments of the whites. They alleged, that, after the 
sale of their lands to William Penn, he re-conveyed to them 
a tract, a mile in extent, on each side of the creek, the deed 
for which had been burned with the cabin in which it was 
Sepositcd; and that the English had made settlements with- 
in this tract, injured their corn, and, by dams on the creek, 
impeded the passage of the fish. The deputies were received 
with much respect, invited to a seat in the representative 
chamber, and promised that their complaints should be inves- 
tigated, and promptly redressed. Logan, as commissioner of 
property, though distrusting the title they set up, proposed 
to exchange other lands with the intruders; and the governor 
undertook, that in the province and territories the dams should 
be abated, or so constructed as to admit a free passage to the 
fish. 

If the principles and course of sir William Keith's admi- 

(1) See note G 2, Appendix. 



1724] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 195 

nistration were unanimously approved by the assembly, they 
were not so favourably received by his council. His devo- 
tion to the popular party, and influence with the assembly, 
so unusual with colonial governors, lessened the importance 
of the council, and aroused the fears and vigilance of the 
proprietary part}'- and its leader, Logan. Former governors 
had submitted themselves to the council, and were persuaded 
by Logan that the council was a part of the legislature, and 
that its vote was conclusive. Keith, who well knew that this 
pretension was groundless, early resolved to reduce that body 
to its proper place in the government. In February, 17 IS, 
several bills were presented, on the same day, in council for 
his sanction. Instead of submitting them by paragraph, for 
formal discussion, he directed them to be read at length, and 
then required the opinion of his counsellors, and that the dis- 
sentients, if any, should place their reasons on the minutes; 
declaring, that, should he pass the bills against the wishes 
of the majority, he too would record his motives. The majority, 
Logan included, instantly perceived, that the governor had 
determined to rid himself of the curb; but, trusting that his 
resolution would yield to decisive measures on their part, 
abandoned the council-board, alleging, that sufficient time was 
not given them to discuss the merits of the bills, and that 
their acquiescence might be inferred if they remained.* The 
governor did not attempt to stay their departure, but quietly 
passed the bills with the minority. t 

The dissentients presented a remonstrance to council, in 
which they contended, that the legislature was composed of 
the governor, a standing council, and an elective assembly, as 
in Great Britain by king, lords, and commons: that by the 
royal charter, the legislative power was granted to the pro- 
prietary, who, at the first settlement of the colony, instituted 
that mode of legislation which required the concurrence of 
the crown and the assembly; and though, by some unhappy 
differences, he found it necessary to omit the council in the 
last charter, yet such omission was supplied by his instruc- 

* Norris, Hill, and Dickenson, seceded with Logan. -|- Minutes of 

council. 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1724 

tions 10 his deputies, requiring them to do nothing of im- 
portance without the assent of the council: that the legislative 
power ought not to he confided without control to an assem- 
bly annually elected, always changing with and reflecting the 
passions of the people: that the assembly had frequently ad- 
mitted the council to participate in legislation, and though 
they occasionally refused, it was against the sense of the peo- 
ple, and of the objectors themselves when not re-elected. 

Keith reviewed, with just severity, this remonstrance, er- 
roneous in principle and feeble in argument. He appealed 
to the royal charter, by which the legislative power was 
granted, not to the proprietary alone, but to him and his 
heirs, and to their lieutenants and deputies, by and with the 
advice and approbation of the freemen, or their delegates, 
without reference to a council: he averred, that the private 
instructions of the proprietary could not be opposed to the 
clear sense of his own and the royal charters, which formed 
the fundamental laws of the province; nor the errors of a 
former administration furnish an apology for those of a suc- 
ceeding one: that the balance for a mutable legislature, which 
they desired to find in the council, already existed in the go- 
vernor: that the concessions of the assembly to the council 
could not confer a right, opposed as they were to the consti- 
tution, and the sense of other assemblies: that there was gross 
inconsistency in denying the judgment of the assembly, whilst 
they appealed to multitudes always swayed by caprice, or by 
party feelings. He charged them with disingenuousness, in 
their representations of the proceedings in council: with 
protracting the discussions on bills already frequently ex- 
amined, irritating the assembly, and disturbing the good 
understanding which, with much care and pains, he had esta- 
blished between himself and the house : and he declared, 
that if the dissidents expected to obtain a negative on the le- 
gislative authority, they would be certainly disappointed. 
This firmness should have recommended the governor to the 
proprietary and to the people. Yet so little did it promote 
the views of the formed, that it is probable his removal would 



1724] HlSTOnV OF PENNSYLVANIA. 197 

have been immediate, had the state of the proprietary family 
permitted the exercise of its power.* 

Disappointed in his hopes of governing Keith, Logan 
watched him closely, but so prudent and successful were the 
governor's measures, that he was invulnerable. Logan con- 
tinued to hold the offices of secretary of the province and 
clerk of the council until the year 1722, when, having entered 
amons: the minutes of the council a statement of its transac- 
tions, which had not been formally approved by the board, 
Keith removed him from the offices of counsellor and secre- 
tary, and gave the seal of state to another. Thus deprived 
of all participation in the government, Logan sailed for Eng- 
land, whence he returned with new and peremptory instruc- 
tions from Mrs. Penn to the governor, and threats of removal 
in case of disobedience. (1) 

Mrs. Penn reprehended Keith for his neglect of the pro- 
prietary interest; and admonished him, that means would be 
found to make him feel the displeasure of the family, which 
had hitherto been forborne from tenderness to him, and in 
hopes that he would apply his known abilities to the interests 
of his constituents. She required him to second the com- 
missioners of property, in all cases, with the powers of go- 
vernment, and strictly to enforce the laws against the violators 
of the proprietary rights. She censured his appointment of 
new counsellors, without the approbation of the existing 
members, and commanded him to remove from the board all 
who were so appointed, and that in future one-half of that 
body should consist of Quakers. Admitting the legislative 
power to reside in the governor and assembly, the proprie- 
taries, she said, deemed it of the highest importance to their 
interests, that it should be exercised with prudence and deli- 
beration; and therefore it could not be tolerated, that every 
new governor should, with an assembly, annually chosen, 
enact laws, and transmit them to the king's ministers with- 
out any restraint; and they were much surprised that he, 
from whom it was the least expected, should be the author 

• Votes. (1) See Note H 2, Appendix. 



198 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l724 

of SO dangerous an innovation, by which the securities given 
by the deputies not to enact laws without the approbation of 
the proprietaries' friends in council were avoided; and, there- 
fore, he was required to advise with the council upon every 
meeting and adjournment of the assembly requiring any deli- 
beration on his part; to make no speech, nor send any written 
message to the assembly, which was not first approved in 
council; to receive all messages from the house in council as 
far as practicable; to retain no bills without its advice, nor 
pass any law without the assent of a majority of the board. 

Keith had written to Mrs. Penn an account of Logan's 
conduct in relation to the minutes of council, but she, pre- 
suming his letter to be written in anger, declined to notice this 
charge. She could not, however, refrain from expressing her 
surprise, that Logan, since his arrival in England, had refused 
the title of secretary of the province; which, on inquiry, she 
learned, was in consequence of the governor's appointment 
of a stranger to that office. But, as her husband, after full 
experience of his probity, fidelity, and capacity, had appointed 
him not only secretary of the province, and his receiver- 
general, but had made him one of the trustees of his will; 
and as the family had abundant evidence of his fidelity, in his 
constant care to promote their interest in the province, in the 
correctness of his accounts, and the manner of his returns, by 
which he saved them many hundred pounds in exchange, 
there was no room to suspect his integrity in any of the family 
affairs; and consequently, without wrong to him and herself, 
she could view him in no other light, than that of an honest 
man, and a true and faithful friend. Hence it was not to be 
expected, that a gentleman who had obtained the government 
by her husband's commission, under which he still held it, 
should, without notice to, or directions from, the family, and 
even without advising with the council, as enjoined by his 
instructions, presume to displace such an officer. He was 
therefore commanded to reinstate Logan in all his offices, to 
restore to him the seal, to cause all the.acts of the government, 
military commissions and marriage licenses excepted, to be 
authenticated by the provincial seal in the secretary's office, 



1724] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 199 

and to cultivate a good understanding with him for the sake 
of the public peace, the public good, and that of the family. 

Mrs. Penn was dissatisfied with the paper currency, and 
the manner in which it was established. She refrained, she 
said, from soliciting the repeal of the laws by which it was 
created, under the expectation, that all possible care would be 
taken to support its credit, and that no further issues should 
be made. Of all Keith's acts, his treaty with the Indians at 
Albany, alone, drew forth commendation; but even here a 
great portion of the merit was assigned to his counsellors, to 
whose guidance, especially that of the commissioners of pro- 
perty, he was recommended, in all matters relating to tbe 
aborigines. This long and severe lecture concluded thus: 
*' As thou wert chosen in the time of my husband's weak- 
ness, by means of his friends only, to that important trust, it 
would be with some regret should we be obliged to make a 
change before our final settlement with the crown, though 
the means are ready at hand. We earnestly, therefore, desire 
that thy skill and abilities may be employed to render thy 
continuance yet grateful to us, which can be no other way 
ejQfected than by thy strict observation of thy former, and 
these present instructions." 

Accompanying Mrs. Penn's epistle, was one from Henry 
Gouldney, and Joshua Gee, written in like spirit, but in 
terms more absolute. "The care of the province," said 
they, " devolving in some measure upon us as trustees, we 
have been obliged to consider thy late conduct in it, which 
has been so far from giving content to thy friends, who ex- 
pected a very different account of it, that we might have very 
justly proceeded to a change. But the widow of our wor- 
thy friend, our deceased proprietary, is still willing thou 
mayest have a further trial, and be continued longer; the 
only terms of which is thy strict compliance with the instruc- 
tions given in the foregoing letter. Thou may suppose, 
perhaps, that the powers of government are not directly 
lodged by the will in our said friend the widow; and, there- 
fore, that it may not belong so immediately to her to direct 
in affairs of government; but as the interest of the family is 



200 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1724 



principally concerned in the welfare and prosperity of that 
province, it can become no other person better to take care 
of it; and if ever the propriety of this proceeding be ques- 
tioned, thou may easily be convinced, there is sufficient 
power to end all disputes with thee about it."* 

This potion, so bitter in itself, was rendered more nauseous 
to Keith by being mixed and administered by the hand of 
Logan. Keith, assured of his animosity, believed that the 
want of power, and not the forbearance of the family, pre- 
vented his own removal. He knew that the powers of go- 
vernment were in abeyance by the refusal of those who had 
the legal estate in them, to act without the authority of chan- 
cery, "and that the land trustees had no right directly to 
interfere with the administration. And he flattered himself 
that, if the consent of the necessary parties to the appomt- 
ment of another governor could be obtained, under any cir- 
cumstances, it would not be predicated upon his refusal to 
submit to the dictation of his council ; and that the fortunate 
state of the province attesting his zeal and wisdom, would 
outweigh the interested fears of the family, and the sugges- 
tions of an ambitious man devoted to their cause. 

From such considerations, Keith, in his reply, openly jus- 
tified the course he had pursued. Professing his readiness to 
obey such instructions as were not repugnant to the constitu- 
tion, he asserted the right of the deputy-governor to act in- 
dependently of the proprietary, to have been conclusively 
settled at the commencement of Evans' administration. That 
deputy being required to pass no law without the assent of 
the proprietary, the assembly demanded of the council, 
whether such reservation was void in itself, or whether it 
avoided the whole commission? The council, then composed 
of the most respectable and devoted friends of the family, 
among whom was Logan, judge Mompesson, and the eldest 
son of the proprietary, unanimously declared the reservation 
void. If, therefore, Keith inferred, the proprietary could 
not directly control his deputy, such power could not be 



Votes. 



17'243 HISTORY OF Pi:NNSYLVANIA. 201 

indirectly exercised. The insuperable objections arising from 
the constitution, were thus supported by the best authority, 
and there were others equally insurmountable. By act of 
parliament, the proprietary was forbidden to appoint a lieu- 
tenant, who had not given security in the exchequer, to obey 
the royal instructions; therefore, the veto now insisted upon 
for the council, could not be conceded without his majesty's 
consent, and was in truth injuiious to his prerogative. Yet 
he urged, though unable to surrender his conscience and will 
to the council, that he hadalways solicited, and frequently pro- 
fited, by its advice; and, holding the members but as legal 
advisers, and solemn witnesses of his actions, for which he 
alone was responsible, it was his duty, as it was his right, to 
appoint his secretary and clerk, that their minutes might 
be faithfully entered and carefully preserved in hands that 
would not dare to violate them. This confidence he could 
not place in Logan, who had falsified the minutes, and deign- 
ed not to deny or extenuate his conduct.* 

Had the governor confined himself to this answer, his tri- 
umph over Logan would have been complete, at least in the 
minds of the provincialists. But, betrayed by his fears, or 
seduced by his vanity, he committed an unpardonable fault, 
by communicating the instructions of Mrs, Penn, together 
with his reply, to the assen-ib!}^ Logan also ad<lressed them 
in a long memorial, recapitulating the arguments of the 
dissentient counsellors, the absurdity of which he, by at- 
tenuation, rendered more apparent. His appearance before 
the public, seemed to be ftlt by David Lloyd, as a chal- 
lenge from an ancient adversary. He had been appointed 
chief justice, and, in the holiday of a patriotic and popular 
administration, had almost slept on his woolsack; but now, 
aroused, he overwhelmed his antagonist with cases from the 
king's bench, to prove that the deputy is invested with the 
whole power of his principal, and could not be legally re- 
strained in its exercise. The governor also replied to Logan, 
by a recapitulation of his former arguments. The a&sembly 

• Votes. 
26 



202 HISTOKY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l726 

highly approved of his conduct, remonstrated with Mrs. Penn 
upon her instructions, and, pledging themselves to support 
the governor in his resistance to them, they granted him a 
donation of one thousand pounds.* 

Thus supported, Keith assumed the appearance of confi- 
dence, though extremely anxious with regard to his situation. 
Rumours of his removal were whispered from time to time. 
The family disputes might be compromised, misrepresentation 
might unite the family and trustees in his removal, and even 
the assembly might be influenced by the powerful interest 
exerted against him. He endeavoured to bind the last more 
closely to himself, by new propositions to improve the pro- 
vincial trade, and by new offers of his services, in passing 
such laws as they might deem necessary to their prosperity; 
and he even essayed to awaken their gratitude, by detailing 
the benefits which flowed from his administration. But, the 
house, having been assured of his removal, with the most 
condcmnable versatility, treated his instances with coldness 
and reserve, and even depreciated his services. He attempted, 
in vain, to procure an immediate vote approbatory of his con- 
duct and of his address to the family; even though he was 
supported by the people in this purpose, the assembly pro- 
crastinated, and, finally, feebly and frigidly executed, his de- 
fence. Their waning affection conclusively appeared, in their 
refusal to grant him more than four hundred pounds towards 
his support for the current year. This injustice excited him 
to an indignant expression of his feelings; but the house, then 
informed of the appointment of his successor, postponed the 
consideration of his message until their next meeting, before 
which he wassuperseded by the arrivalof Patrick Gordon, esq.f 
Sir William Keith was decidedly the best of the proprie- 
tary deputies. Differing from the great body of the people 
whom he governed, in religion and manners, he acquired their 
esteem and confidence. If he sought popularity, he promoted 
the public happiness; and the courage he displayed, in resisting 
the demands of the family, may be ascribed to a higher mo- 

• Votes. f Aut^nst, 1726. 



!726] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 203 

tive than private interest. The conduct of the assemhiy to- 
wards him was neither honourable nor politic: for his sins 
against his principals were virtues to the people, with whom 
he was deservedly a favourite ; and the house should have 
given him such substantial marks of their gratitude as would 
have tempted his successors to walk in his steps. I3ut fear 
of further offence to the proprietary family, the influence of 
Logan, and a quarrel between the governor and Lloyd, turned 
their attention from him to his successor.* 

This successor was appointed by the family, and formally 
proposed to the crown, by Springett Penn, the heir-at-law. 
Keith's conduct was grossly misrepresented in London, and, 
among other things, he was charged with enmity to the Quak- 
ers, to promote whose interests was his constant endeavour, 
and whom he had certainly served, by his exertions to obtain 
for them an entire exemption from taking or administering 
oaths. Mrs. Penn, in her reply to the remonstrance of the 
assembly, (in which she treated them much like children 
unable to understand their own interests,) accused him of a 
design to wrest the government from the proprietary family. 
But there is no evidence of this intention during his admi- 
nistration. These misrepresentations rendered the removal 
of Keith much more easy than he had anticipated. (1) 

• Franklin. Mod. Hist. (1) See Note I 2, Appendix. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Governor Gordon's address to, and reception by, the assem- 
bly-'-Keith's intrigues-"Shad fisheries-'-Death of George I. 

••••Murder by the Indians Indian expenses^ •••Foreign 

emigranls^^^County of Lancaster formed'"«Paper currency 

• •••Fraud in the loan-office Sugar trade Provincial 

agency'-'^Altack on the freedom of the colonies in parlia- 
ment^^- -Assembly claim the right of appointment to office 
••••Visit of the proprietaries- •••Abolition of the court of 
equity^^^ -Death of governor Gordon- ---his ai|iaracter--^^His 
administration^'^ -Logan president of council. 

Governor Gordon endeavoured* to recommend himself to 
the assembly, by assuring them that the frankness of his 
character, acquired in camps, disqualified him for any artful 
system of policy; and therefore his views, openly avowed, 
woultl be fully understood Ijy those they would affect. He 
felt confidence in the situation he had assumed, under the con- 
viction that it was not difficult to act rightly, and that, in 
cases of importance, he might consult with the representatives 
of the people, and at all times with those who had the inte- 
rests of tlie public seriously at heart. This was viewed by 
the house as an intimation of his disapproval of the policy 
of his predecessor, and of his own determination to be guided 
by his council. Yet the house declared itself heartily glad, 
that "the heir and executrix of their late worthy proprietary 
had had such regard to their own honour, and to the good of 
the colony, as to appoint him to represent them in the go- 
vernment, according to their undoubted right; and that his 
majesty's care and justice was obvious, in not suffering their 
disputes to obstruct his royal approbation." This reply was 

• August, 1726. 



1727] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 205 

most severe and unexpected in regard to Keith. But the 
manners of governor Gordon were conciliating, his temper 
yielding, and he was so fortunate as to avoid matters of con- 
tention with the people. 

Keith, however, was not entirely deserted. Indeed, he 
was strong in the affections of many respectable inhabitants, 
and the great mass of the people adhered to his interests. His 
influence he believed sufficient so to embarrass the adminis- 
tration of Gordon, as to make the re-appointment of himself 
necessary; or, failing in this, to wrest the government from 
the proprietary family. With these views, he caused himself 
to^be elected to the assembly. During his first year of ser- 
vice, no opportunity was presented of dividing the house; but 
in the second, on some dispute whose nature cannot be dis- 
tinctly ascertained, eight members receded with himself, and 
refused attendance during the remainder of their term, not- 
withstanding repeated threats and solicitations of the house. 
But, as Keith's views became understood, his power declined; 
and finally, having, with puerile vanity, talked of his plans 
for the subversion of all proprietary governments in North 
America, he drew upon himself the public contempt. Seve- 
ral respectable witnesses deposed before a justice of the su- 
preme court, and mayor of the city, to conversations with 
Keith, in vvhich he developed his design of embarrassing the 
proprietaries, till they should sell the government to the crown, 
whence he expected a re-appointment. These depositions 
having been laid before the assembly, were published with 
their minutes, and extinguished all Keith's hopes of aggran- 
dizement. 

The Delaware river afforded excellent shad fisheries, but 
the inhabitants of its borders were deprived of the power to 
use them extensively, by reason of the high duty laid by 
parliament on the importation of salt. The New England 
colonies had obtained exemption from duty on this article, 
and Pennsylvania had, at the instance of Keith, prayed for 
the like favour. The interests of the province, on this sub- 
ject, were confided to Mr. Perry, of London, whose success- 



206 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l728 

ful exertions were rewarded by the province with a donation 
of one hundred and fifty guineas. 

George the first having died in June, the accession of his son, 
George II., gave occasion for a congratulatory address from 
the assembly, at their first meeting in October, Governor 
Gordon proposed to unite with the house in their address, 
but, afterwards, he declined, concluding that it became him 
to approach the king in a style different from that which they 
assumed. 

As the colonists extended themselves through the interior 
of the country, they came more frequently and more closely 
in contact with the natives, and, in despite of the efTorts'of the 
government, opposition of habits, interests, and dispositions, 
led to occasional violence, by either party, and sometimes to 
bloodshed. A person named Wright had been killed beyond 
Conestoga, at a place called Snake town, by the Pennsylva- 
nia Indians. The course directed by the assembly, on this 
occasion, to obtain redress, was that established for the prose- 
cution of Indian ofienders generally. The criminal was de- 
manded of the town or nation to which he belonged, with a 
threat that, unless he were surrendered within a specified time, 
the proper officer would be empowered to apprehend him; 
and, when surrendered, he was tried by an English jury. The 
colonists were much annoyed by non-resident Indians, who 
frequently, in small and armed parties, roved on the borders of 
the settlements, and, stimulated by drink and cupidity, com- 
mitted outrages upon the persons and property of the inha- 
bitants. A case of this kind had called forth the inhabitants 
on the Manatany, a creek emptying into the Schuylkill thirty 
miles from Philadelphia, and, in the afiray, several of the 
whites, as well as Indians, were wounded. During the alarm 
and irritation occasioned by this affair, three unoffending In- 
dians, of a friendly provincial tribe, were inhumanly killed 
in the woods by four whites. The governor, who had, on the 
first disturbance by the strange Indians, proceeded to Mana- 
tany, ordered three of the murderers to be arrested, the fourth 
escaped. The vengeance of the Indian chiefs, to whom the 
deceased were related, was much dreaded; but it was averted 



1729] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 20f 

by the interposition of the Five nations, and a new treaty j, 
sealed in the usual manner by presents; the expense of which^ 
in the present case, was near three hundred pounds. 

In considering the expenses of this treaty, and other ne- 
gotiations with the Indians, the house took the distinction 
between the charges consequent upon their political relations 
with the Indians, and such as were incurred in treaties for the 
purchase of lands. The latter, they contended, should be paid 
by the proprietary. The right to purchase lands was vested in 
William Penn, his heirs and grantees; and, by an act of assem- 
bly, passed in 1700, all purchases made by others were declared 
void. The charge of preserving a social and friendly inter- 
course with the savages was a provincial one; and the frequent 
visits of the chiefs and their followers, to polish the chain of 
friendship with English blankets, broad-cloths, and metals, 
were hitherto paid from the provincial treasury. But almost 
every treaty was accompanied by a purchase of land, and the 
oblations to the flame of friendship, in the calamut of peace, 
became considerations implied in the bargain for the soil. 
The Indian chiefs had not yet discriminated between the go- 
vernment and the land proprietors; but the assembly, more 
acute, resolved that they who so much depended upon the 
friendly chain, should contribute to its preservation. 

The increase of foreigners, particularly of palatines, again 
awakened the fears of the government, which found sufficient 
cause to discourage their importation, in their adherence to 
each other, and their exclusive use of the German language. 
Even the mother country apprehended that Pennsylvania 
was about to become a colony of aliens. Excited by their 
own fears, and instructed by the ministry, the assembly passed 
an impolitic act, laying a duty of forty shillings per head, on 
all aliens imported. A regard to revenue may have assisted 
this determination, as many thousands of Germans were ex- 
pected in the ensuing year."* In justice to the Germans, it 
siiould be told, that this law was enacted in the face of a re- 
port of a committee of the house, containing satisfactory evi- 

• The number of emigrants that arrived, from December, 1728, to De- 



208 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [_IT29 



dence of their good conduct. " The palatines who had been 
imported directly into the province, had purchased and ho- 
nestly paid for their lands, had conducted themselves respect- 
fully towards the government, paid their taxes readily, and 
were a sober and honest people in their religious and civil 
duties. Yet some who had come by the way of New York, 
and elsewhere, had seated themselves on lands of the pro- 
prietaries and others, and refused to yield obedience to the 

government."* 

The city of Philadelphia had certainly cause to complain 
of the great influx of strangers. Many of them with families, 
having no means of support, were cast on public chanty, dis- 
pensed by the guardians of the poor. These officers were 
created by act of assembly of 1705, upon a system analogous 
to that of England. And from funds furnished by the bills 
of credit, was laid the foundation of a perpetual moral disease, 
in the alms-house of Philadelphia, and the general pauper 
system— a powerful magnet, attracting to the city much of 
the crime, engendered by slavery in other states, and all 
the poverty which can obtain a legal claim to relief; a mat- 
ter extremely easy, since the mistaken philanthropy, which 
founded the system, presides over its administration; entail- 
ing upon the citizens immense annual burdens, which become 

cember, 1729, was about six thousand two hundred and eight; but a small 
portion were aliens. 

There were of English and Welsh passengers and 

. _ * • -©Of 

servants - - 

Scotch servants - - - ■ ' 

Irish -passengers and servants 

Palatine passengers - - ■ ' 

By the way of Newcastle, chiefly passengers and 

. r T 1 ^ 4- - - 4500 

servants from Ireland.t 

6208 



The town of Newcastle, at tliis time, contained two thousand five hun- 
dred souls. Humph. Hist. Acct. 163. 

• Votes. t EuroP- Sett. Universal Hist. Douglass. 



1729] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 209 

less tolerable from the conviction, that much is paid for the 
maintainance and encouragement of vice. 

The inconveniences sustained by the inhabitants, from the 
great extent of the counties, were at this time severely felt 
by those of the county of Chester, who complained of the 
distance of the county town and public offices, and of the 
impunity allowed to petty offenders, resorting to remote parts 
of the province, distant from a court of justice, and public 
prison. In consequence of this memorial, the county of Lan- 
caster was erected. 

The causes which produced the bills of credit required 
further issues, but the system was opposed by many obstacles. 
The first acts had been reluctantly sanctioned by the commis- 
sioners of trade and plantations, with an explicit declaration, 
that any attempt to extend them would be resisted; but the 
arguments of Keith, founded on a just discrimination between 
the paper money of the New England provinces, resting on 
the faith of the government alone, and that of Pennsylvania, 
secured by the estates and industry of an enterprising popu- 
lation, removed the scruples of the ministry. But they were 
not sufficient to conciliate the j)roprietaries, who, though 
satisfied of the general advantage resulting from the system, 
were sensibly injured in their pecuniary receipts, by its 
operation. By the proclamation of 6t'n Anne, the provincial 
currency was regulated, and the pound sterling was worth a 
third advance; since the introduction of paper, exchange had 
risen to seventy per cent., operating most injuriously on those 
who had claims for sterling money, but were paid in provin- 
cial paper at its nominal value, and especially upon the pro- 
prietaries in the collection of tlieir quit-renls. Justice required 
that they should be indemnified; and their deputies were re- 
spectively forbidden to pass any law for making, emitting, 
increasing, or continuing any paper currency, unless provision 
were made for tiie payment of the quit-rents, and other rent?, 
according to the rate of exchange between the cities of Phila- 
delphia and London. 

Governor Gordon endeavoured to obt lin a clause, requiring 
all the proprietary rents to be paid in sterling currency, or 



210 HISTORY or PENNSYLVANIA. [l729 

in its equivalent; but the house would consent to provide 
only for the quit-rents, which provision he refused to accept, 
and preferred to leave the whole subject open for future dis- 
cussion. The assembly proposed to issue an additional sum 
of fifty thousand pounds, at four per cent., repayable by in- 
stalments, in sixteen years; and to re-issue the sums author- 
ized by former laws, at like interest, and for the like term; 
but after much conference between them and the governor, 
they reduced the amount to thirty thousand pounds, and 
raised the interest to five per cent. The whole sum of paper 
money now current in the province was seventy-five thou- 
sand pounds, which continued until 1739, supported by occa- 
sional laws, directing new bills to be issued for supplying 
such as were torn or defaced. 

In 1739, a great diminution of the circulating medium 
having taken place by the re-payment of former loans, the 
assembly were petitioned not only to extend the term of the 
former laws, but to add to the amount of bills, to lower the 
interest, to permit larger sums to be loaned to individuals, 
and to extend the time for payment. A bill was prepared, 
enlarging the currency to eighty thousand pounds, repayable 
in sixteen years, by annual instalments, and reissuabie as 
paid in for the remainder of that term; the interest at five 
per cent.; the minimum of loans to individuals twelve, and 
the maximum one hundred pounds. 

The governor objected to tliis bill, its injurious effects 
upon the proprietary interests; and recalled to the assembly 
its admission, that the quit-rents demanded English money, 
and that the debt could not he otherwise discharged than by 
the payment of an English shilling, or the value of it, in the 
current coin, for every hundred acres of land. He also re- 
quired that provision should be made in the act, for equalizing 
all the sterling payments due to the crown, the English 
merchants, and the proprietaries. The house replied, that 
the first were already secured by act of parliament; the second, 
by the general sense of the province, and the practice of the 
courts, in which juries always considered the rate of ex- 
change; and tiiat a statutory jjrovision for the last would 



1730J HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 211 

produce two standards of value, and depreciate the currency; 
would prejudge the interests of those who might contest the 
difference of exchange, and would render the value of rents 
uncertain, fluctuating with the rate of exchange, which de- 
pended upon various causes, beside the intrinsic value of 
money. They also insisted, that it would enable the pro- 
prietors, whose large receipts gave them the command of the 
money marl<et, to raise the rate of exchange at pleasure. 

After mueh delay the proprietaries consented to accept an 
ascertained compensation for the difference of the currency. 
The arrearages of rent at this time amounted to eleven thou- 
sand pounds sterling; the exchange on which exceeded four 
thousand pounds. For this sum they received twelve hundred 
pounds, and an annuity of one hundred and thirty pounds 
during the continuance of the paper currency, in consideration 
of its future receipt at the current value. These obstacles 
removed, the bill became a law, and the sum of eighty thou- 
sand pounds, in bills of credit, was continued current, by an 
act of 1745, until the year 1773, when the sum of one hun- 
dred and fifty thousand pounds was issued on loan, by authori- 
ty of an act of assembly, sanctioned by Richard Penn. 

Large sums of paper money were issued on the exigencies 
of war, and for several purposes of improvement. But these 
were temporary in their nature, and redeemed by the product 
of certain taxes created with that design. 

In 1778 the commonwealth called in all the bills of credit 
issued by the legislative authority of Pennsylvania, under the 
sanction and authority of the crown of Great Britain, direct- 
ing them to be exchanged with the treasury for bills issued 
by congress, or by the commonwealth, or to be paid for taxes, 
or in satisfaction of monies due on mortgage, before certain 
periods, under the penalty of forfeiture. 

In consequence of rumours of mismanagement in the loan 
office, the assembly added to their usual annual examining 
committee certain assistants, not members of the house, dis- 
tinguished for their knowledge of accounts. These attempted 
to examine the books from the establishment of the office ; 



212 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l730 

but William Fishbourne, tbe treasurer, and acting manae;er 
of the board of commissioners, refused to submit tbem, on the 
ground, that they had been conclusively settled by former 
legislative committees, whose reports were confirmed by the 
house. But the assembly immediately directed him to ac- 
count with their last committee from the emission of the 
paper currency, and submit to their view all the cash and 
hills of credit remaining in the olTice. From the investiga- 
tion which ensued, itappeartid, that the trustees had devolved 
on Fishbourne the whole management of the office, examining 
occasionally such accounts as he chose to exhibit, and confid- 
ing in the semi-annual inspection of the legislature; that for 
several years he had made short returns of monies paid, and 
was a defaulter for more than eighteen hundred pounds. All 
the trustees were removed, and others appointed. Fishbourne 
secured the payment of his arrears by mortgage on his real 
estate, and attempted to account for his delinquency, by a 
robbery, he said, v/as committed upon him by a member of 
his family. But the house, not crediting his justification, 
disqualified him by law from holding any office in the pro- 
vince. This punishment, perhaps, was not disproportionate 
to the ofience; but the law inflicting it was, ex post facto, 
enacted after the commission of the crime, and was dangerous 
in precedent. The assembly was the prosecutor, and the 
judge, with uncontrolled power to punish. Such amalgama- 
tion of executive, judicial, and legislative powers, should ever 
be viewed with dread. Governor Gordon hesitated to sanc- 
tion the bill, but his scruples were overcome by ex parte 
representations of the assembly. 

The British West India islands, wbicb had attained great 
wealth and population, applied, first to the king in council, 
and, subsequently, to parliament, to confine the continental 
colonies, in their purchases of West India produce, wholly 
to the English islands. The passage of a bill for this pur- 
pose was arrested by the efforts of the colonial proprietaries 
and agents, who represented, that this measure, partial and 
inconsiderate, would exclude them from the sources whence 
they derived the means for payment of the English balance 



1732] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 213 

against the colonies. Pennsylvania was justly alarmed, and 
threatened the English manufacturers, that, in case of the 
adoption of the measure, she would be compelled to manu- 
facture for the supply of her own wants. The assembly, in 
conjunction with the governor and council, addressed remon- 
strances to the king, the lords, and commons, respectively. 
These were presented by Ferdinando John Paris, agent for 
the province at London. 

Before the appointment of Mr. Paris, the province had 
no permanent agent to superintend its interests. Her laws 
were repealed by the king, from ignorance of their operation 
and of the causes of their enactment ; the representations of the 
proprietaries, to promote their exclusive interests, were unop- 
posed; and prejudices frequently prevailed, which a well- 
instructed agent might speedily remove. The charge was 
burdensome, and was occasionally complained of, but the 
agency was too advantageous to be discontinued. The agent 
was the special minister of the assembly; he received his 
instructions from them, and communicated^his reports through 
a committee of the house. 

During this year, the province first became apprehensive 
of the designs of the French in the western country. Mr. 
Logan communicated to council, that the French claimed, by- 
virtue of some treaty, all the lands lying on rivers, the mouths 
of which they possessed. That lands on the Ohio and Al- 
leghany, unquestionably within the province of Pennsylva- 
nia, were embraced by this claim, and that, on some maps, 
the French boundary was extended to the Susquehannah. 
That, some years before, the governor of Montreal had sent 
an agent among the Indians on the Alleghany, to gain their 
affections, and that some of the Shawanese had, on his invi- 
tation, visited Montreal: and that, in the preceding spring, the 
same agent, accompanied by a small party of French, had again 
visited the Indians. 

With a view to frustrate the designs of the French, which 
obviously tended to alienate the Indians from the English, 
Mr. Logan proposed that a treaty should be holden with the 
Shawanese, and other Indians on the Alleghany, and that 
they should be invited to remove nearer to the English settle- 



214 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l733 

merits. His views were adopted by the council and the as- 
sembly, having been communicated verbally to the latter 
body, that they might not be made public. 

The Six nations, with whom a treaty was soon afterwards 
holden at Philadelphia, confirmed Mr. Logan's information, 
and added, that the French had erected houses on the Ohio, 
against the remonstrances of the Indians. 

The Shawanesc of the Alleghany were summoned to ren- 
der an account of their visit to Montreal. But they asserted, 
that the language of the French was friendly to the English, 
and the English Indians. They complained, that, though 
friendly themselves to the English, they had been called to 
Philadclpliia to be reprehended; and they refused to remove 
from the Ohio.* * 

By the death of Springett Penn, and Mrs, Hannah Penn, 
the assembly conceived that Mr. Gordon's authority was de- 
termined. They refused to act upon a message which he sent 
them, and privately advised him to withdraw it, and adjourned 
themselves to the last day of their term. But a new com- 
mission, signed by John, Thomas, and Richard Penn, in whom 
the government, as well as the property in the soil, was now 
vested, was received by governor Gordon in October. In 
the approbation given to this appointment by the king, there 
is an express reservation of the right of the crown to the go- 
vernment of the lower counties on the Delaware, t 

The exertions of Mr. Paris were particularly, though un- 
successfully, used, to prevent the repeal of a judiciary act, 
passed in 1727. The rejection of this law was very dis- 
satisfactory to the provincialists; but the inconveniences pro- 
duced by its abrogation were, in a great measure, removed, by 
the immediate revival of the judiciary act of 1722. But the 
labours of Mr. Paris, in union with the colonial proprietaries 
and agents, were more fortunate in averting a measure, which 
threatened to destroy the charters, and abridge the rights, of 
all the colonies. Upon the representation of the commis- 
sioners for trade and plantations, a resolution was reported to 
the house of lords, requiring each colony, whether regal or 

• Minutes of council. f Ibid. 



17343 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 215 

proprietary, to transmit to the board of trade a complete copy 
of its laws; and authorizing the crown, notwithstanding any 
privilege or limitation by charter, to repeal any law which 
had not received his majesty's approbation in council, and 
which might be found detrimental to the prerogative or in- 
terest of Great Britain; and that, in future, all provincial 
laws should be sent home within twelve months, and should 
be inoperative, until confirmed by the king. The success of 
this measure would have greatly retarded the advancement of 
the colonies. Laws required by momentary exigencies could 
not have been enacted, and such as were most wise and ne- 
cessary, would be delayed for years, by the tardiness or indif- 
ference of council. 

In the inspection laws established by the assembly, the in- 
specting officers were appointed by the house, and named in 
the bill. This was viewed by the proprietaries and the go- 
vernor as an encroachment on the executive power, but was 
feebly opposed by Gordon, when the house was about to re- 
new the act, preventing the exportation of unmerchantable 
bread and flour. He objected more particularly to their as- 
sumption of the right to appoint, in case of vacancy in the 
office; and proposed, that the vacancy should be filled by act 
of assembly, in the passage of which he would have a voice. 
But the house refused to allow him this participation, and 
wrung from him a reluctant assent to their bill, by the ne- 
cessity of the law, and the force of precedent. 

Considerable jealousy of the Roman catholic religion pre- 
vailed in the province, whilst all others were tolerated with- 
out fear. This arose from apprehension that a similarity of 
religion might lead the catholics in the province to support 
the French interests. Governor Gordon brought this subject 
before his council for consideration, informing them that a 
house had lately been built in Walnut street for the exercise 
of that religion, in which mass was openly celebrated by a 
priest, contrary to the laws of England, and particularly the 
llth and 12th of William IIL, which extended to all bis 
majesty's dominions. The council were of opinion that the 
statute did not extend to the province, and that the catholics 



216 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1736 

were protected by the charter of privileges, and the law con- 
cerning liberty of conscience; but referred the subject to the 
governor, that he might, in his discretion, consult his supe- 
riors at home. But it does not appear that the governor took 
further notice of the matter.* 

In August, 1732, Thomas Penn, and in October, 1734, 
John Penn, the oldest of the proprietaries, and a native of 
Pennsylvania, visited the province. They were received af- 
fectionately by the people, and complimented with an address 
from the assembly, and immediately on their arrival, respec- 
tively, became members of the council. The return of the 
latter was hastened by information that lord Baltimore had 
applied to the crown for a grant of the territories on the De- 
laware. An attempt which provoked an active and effectual 
opposition from the proprietaries, the assembly of Pennsyl- 
vania, and the society of Quakers in England. 

The court of chancery had, since its establishment bj' Keith, 
continued to exercise its functions, undisturbed by murmurs 
or doubts of its authority. Its business, however, was incon- 
siderable; two causes only having been heard and decided 
during the administration of governor Gordon. Suddenly 
it was discovered to be unconstitutional, and petitions wore 
poured upon the assembly, praying for its abolition. They 
required the governor to inform them on what authority the 
court rested. He referred them to the minutes of council, 
containing the assent of the house in the year 1720, the re- 
solution of the council, and the proclamation of Keith. But 
the assembly resolved, that the court was contrary to that 
section of the charter, which forbade the governor and coun- 
cil to take judicial cognizance of any matter relative to ^'■pro- 
perty, ^' unless upon appeal, allowed by law, from the ordinary 
courts of justice; and proposed two bills, the one confirming 
the proceedings of the court of chancery, the other restoring 
equity jurisdiction to the courts of common law. Both go- 
vernor and council complained of the remarks of the assem- 
bly, upon their exercise of chancery powers, and justified 

• Minutes of council. 



17363 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 217 

themselves by the implied approbation of the legislature from 
the year 1720, the opinions of lawyers, and the practice of 
the other colonies: and they construed the word "property," 
in the charter, to be exclusively appropriated to designate the 
interest of the proprietaries in the soil. But the house re- 
plied, that neither the errors nor indolence of former assem- 
blies, the mistakes of lawyers, nor the practice of other 
colonies, was imperative upon them; and that they were filled 
with regret and surprise, to find gentlemen of such penetra- 
tion as the governor and council, refining away the common 
sense of their charter, by confining the word ''property," to 
the estate of the proprietaries. The further discussion of 
these subjects was prevented, by the adjournment of the 
house, and the death of governor Gordon. But no subse- 
quent governor assumed the powers of chancellor. 

The administration of Gordon was, in all respects,- a happy 
one. No circumstance occurred, requiring him to weigh, in 
opposite scales, his duty to the people and to the proprietary. 
The distinction between the proprietary and popular parties 
was scarce remembered. The unanimity of the assembly, 
the council, and the governor, gave an uninterrupted course 
to the prosperity of the province. The wisdom which guided 
her counsels, is strongly portrayed in her internal peace, in- 
creased population, improved morals, and thriving commerce. 
The import from England in 1723, the year in which the 
paper currency was first adopted, amounted to ^615,, 992 19 4; 
but, in 1737, it had increased to ^658,690 6 7 sterling. She 
employed about six thousand tons of shipping, and built for 
sale, annually, two thousand tons more. She shipped to Lis- 
bon great quantities of corn, frequently selling the ships as 
well as caigo, and sending the proceeds to England. She 
received from the Dutch isle of Curracoa, alone, from four to 
six thousand pistoles, for provisions and liquors. She had a 
brisk trade with Surinam, the French partof Hispaniola, and 
the other French sugar-islands, from whence she had returns 
in molasses and specie; and from Jamaica she brought back 
specie chiefly, because of the high price in that island of rum 
and molasses. She traded extensively with Madeira, the 
28 



218 



IlISTOHY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1736 



Azores, and Canaries; with Spain, Portugal, and the Medi- 
terranean.* The laws regulating the inspection of beef, pork, 
and flour, were revised; an auctioneer, or vendue master, was 
appointed by the governor, on the recommendation of the 
mayor, and recorder, and aldermen, of the city of Philadel- 
phia, pursuant to an act of assembly; additional penalties 
were enacted against the importation of convicts and paupers, 
and a humane insolvent law was passed.t 

The first insolvent act (of 1705) was founded in sterner 
justice than is consistent with human frailty, or the uncer- 
tainty of human events. By it no person could be imprison- 
ed for debt, or fines, longer than the second day of the next 
session of the court after his commitment, unless he concealed 
his property. But if his property were insufficient for the 
payment of his debts, he was compelled to make satisfaction 
by servitude, if the plaintiff required it; a single man, under 
fifty-three years of age, for a term not exceeding seven 
years; if married, and under the age of forty-six years, 
for a term not exceeding five years, according to the 
judgment of the court, where the action was brought. 
But if the plaintiff refused such satisfaction, the prison- 
er was discharged in open court. This imperfect law was 
annulled by its severity. It was repealed, and supplied 
by the act of the fourteenth of February, 17;30, which laid 
the foundation of the present system. A debtor charged in 
execution, disposed to surrender his property for the use of 
his creditors, might petition the court whence the process 
issued, for the benefits of the act, which were granted to him 
of course, he having, 1, Made astatement, on oath or affirma- 
tion, of his real and personal estate, his debts and credits; 

2, Given notice to his creditors to meet him on a day stated; 

3, Declared, on oath or affirmation, that he had not concealed 
or disposed of any of his estate, whereby to have or expect 
any profit to himself,or to defraud any of his creditors; and, 

4, Assigned his effects in trust for his creditors. Upon per- 
formance of these things, the debtor was discharged from 
imprisonment for all causes mentioned in his petition. If the 

* Anderson. j Votes. 



1736] . HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 219 

creditor were dissatisfied with the debtor's oath, he might be 
remanded, and, on payment to the prisoner, of a sum not 
exceeding three shillings per week, to be regulated by the 
court, his imprisonment might be continued at the pleasure 
of the creditor. But this law having been abused by many 
persons indebted in small sums, satisfaction by servitude was 
again enforced, by supplement, the next year, in cases where 
the debts of the insolvent did not exceed twenty pounds. 

By the death of governor Gordon, the administration of the 
government devolved on the council, of which James Logan, 
by right of seniority, was president. The council was for- 
bidden to exercise legislative power, and consequently, though 
the assembly regularly met to advise the government, if there 
should be occasion, no laws were enacted, or other legisla- 
tive business done. During Mr. Logan's presidency, from 
August, 1736, to August, 173S, when he was superseded by 
the appointment of Mr. Thomas, there were few subjects of 
historical interest. The public business was conducted with 
prudence and decorum. In the council there were James 
Logan, Clement Plumstead, Ralph Ashton, Thomas Griffith, 
Thomas Lawrence, Sam.uel Hudd, and Charles Read. In the 
house of representatives were many of those who had for 
years directed the affairs of tlii2 province. That body had, 
during the administration of Mr. Gordon, been guided and 
directed by Andrew Hamilton, William Allen, Jeremiah 
Langhorne, and Isaac Norris, men whose virtues and talents 
would have reflected honour on more elevated stations. 

The administration of Mr. Logan was distinguished by one 
of those contests between the people of Maryland and Penn- 
sylvania, consequent on the unsettled state of the boundary. 
Many of the palatines had settled west of the Susquehannah, 
(York county,) under Pennsylvania titles, but in order to 
avoid the payment of taxes imposed by the province, they 
accepted titles from Maryland, and attorned to lord Balti- 
more ; but, becoming satisfied that adhesion to him might 
ultimately prejudice their interests, they formally renounced 
their allegiance, and sought protection from Pennsylvania. 
This tergiversation irritated the Maryland authorities, and 



220 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [iT'^G 

the sheriff of Baltimore county, with three hundred men, 
marched to eject the palatines from their possessions. The 
sheriff of Lancaster county (Samuel Smith) drew out his 
posse for their protection, and without violence succeeded in 
inducing the Maryland party to return without attempting 
their purpose, on a pledge of the Germans, that they would 
consult together, and give an answer to lord Baltimore's re- 
quisition, to acknowledge his authority.* But, an association 
was soon after formed, with the knowledge of governor 
Ogle, consisting of at least fifty persons, headed by a captain 
Thomas Cressap, expressly for driving out the Germans, and 
dividing their lands among the associaters, two hundred acres 
being promised to each. In the prosecution of their design, 
they killed one Knowles, who had resisted them. Cressap 
was, in his turn, assailed by the sheriff of Lancaster, and after 
a sharp contest, in which one man was killed, and Cressap 
himself wounded, v^-as made prisoner, and conveyed to Phi- 
ladelphia jail. 

Governor Ogle, on receipt of this intelligence, despatched 
Edmund Jennings and Daniel Dulany to Philadelphia, to de- 
mand reparation, and the release of Cressap, Both were 
refused by the president and council, who earnestly remon- 
strated against the encroachm^mts of the people of Maryland, 
encouraged and protected by their governor.! 

Governor Ogle immediately ordered reprisal. Four Ger- 
man settlers were seized and carried to Baltimore, and a band 
of the associaters, under one Higginbotham, proceeded forci- 
bly to expel the Germans. Again tiie council ordered out 
the sheriff of Lancaster, and the power of his county, with 
directions to dispose detachments in proper positions to pro- 
tect the people; and they despatched Messrs. Lawrence and 
Ashton, members of the board, to support him in the execu- 
tion of their orders. When the sheriff entered the field the 
invaders retired, but returned as soon as his force was with- 
drawn. Captures were made on both sides; the German set- 
tlers were harassed perpetually; in many instances driven 

* 1736, September. f December. 



1737] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 221 

from their farms, and in others deterred from every attempt 
to plant or improve. 

In May,* the council sent Samuel Preston, and John Kin- 
sey, on an embassy to governor Ogle, to treat on some 
measure which might preserve the quiet of the border, until 
the pleasure of the king should be known, to whom both par- 
ties had appealed. But governor Ogle requiring some con- 
cessions incompatible with the rights of the proprietaries of 
Pennsylvania, the deputies returned without having made 
any agreement. In the succeeding October a party of Mary- 
landers, to the number of sixteen, under the direction of one 
Richard Lowder, broke into the jail at Lancaster, and re- 
leased the rioters who had been apprehended by the sheriff, 
among whom was a brother of their leader. Fortunately, when 
indignation was prompting the inhabitants on both sides of 
the line to further breaches of the peace, an order of the king 
in council, on the subject of the boundary, induced both par- 
ties to refrain from further violence, to drop all prosecutions, 
and to discharge their respective prisoners on bail. 

This order was made on the report of the "committee on 
plantations," of the eighteenth of August, 1737, and required 
the governors of the respective provinces effectually to check 
the disturbances on the borders, and to refrain from granting 
lands in dispute, even in the territories, until the king's plea- 
sure should be further known. 

* 1737. 



CHAPTER XII. 

George Thomas governor—Disputes on the Maryland boun-- 
dary •••Andrew Hamilton's address to the assembly —His 
death and characters-Land office— Irregular settlements 
....War with Spain- — Governor Thomas' military efforts 
....Disputes with the assembly -..Forces required from the 
province.. ..Embarrassment of the assembly •••Number of 
troops furnished. . . . Enlistment of servants • . . -The merchants 
urge the assembly to contribute to the war-.^.Money grant- 
ed.. .-Declined by the governor, who sends troops to the 
West Indies. .--George Whitfield- --Governor recommends 
armed vessels- -Limitation of exports-.Dcparture of 
Thomas Penn-- -Election- — Governor reproves John Km- 
sey, speaker of the assembly- --Benevolence to the king---- 
Passengers.--Lazaretto----Violent disputes between the go- 
vernor' and assembly- --John Wright- --Election proceed- 
ings- --Riot- ---Reconciliation- --War with France.--Mili- 
tary association formed by Franklin- --Indian skirmish-- 
Murder of Armstrong- --Treaty at Lancaster- --Enterprise 
on Louisburg--Shawanese Indians- --French intrigues--- 
Measures of governor Thomas- -Proposed attempt on Ca- 
nada--Death of John Penn- -Governor Thomas returns to 
Europe- --His character and administration. 

George Thomas, esq. a planter of Antigua, was appointed 
sovernor of the province and territories in 1737, but his as- 
sumption of the office was delayed by the remonstrance of lord 
Baltimore against the right of the proprietaries to the lower 
counties. He met the assembly of the province on the sixth 

of August, 1738. 

The order of the king, relative to the Maryland boundary, 
proving ineffectual, and mutual complaints continuing to be 
made, the proprietaries of both provinces entered into the 



1739] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 223 

following agreement, which was confirmed by the king, and 
made an order of council. 1, That the order of 1737 should 
be enforced, except as to the territories. 2, That the re- 
spective proprietaries should hold and exercise jurisdiction 
over the lands occupied by themselves and tenants at the date 
of the agreement, though such lands were beyond the limits, 
therein after prescribed, until the final settlement of the boun- 
dary line; and that the tenants of the one should not attorn 
to the other. 3, That the vacant lands contested, on the east 
side of the river Susquehannah, north of a longitudinal line 
drawn fifteen and a quarter miles south of Philadelphia, and 
on the west side of the river by a like line, fourteen and three 
quarter miles south of Philadelphia, should be subject to 
Pennsylvania; and the vacant lands south of those lines, to 
Maryland, without prejudice to the rights of either party. 
4, That within these limits the respective parties might grant 
lands, being responsible for encroachments on each other's 
rights. 5, That prisoners apprehended for border riots should 
be discharged on their recognisances, to submit to trial when 
required by the crown. 

At the close of August, Andrew Hamilton took his leave 
of the assembly and of public business. His valedictory was 
delivered from the speaker's chair, which he had filled dur- 
ing many years with distinguished ability. His view of the 
constitution, and political state of the province, merits a place 
in Pennsylvania history. 

" It is not," said he, " to the fertility of our soil, and the 
commodiousness of our rivers, that we ought chiefly to attri- 
bute the great progress this province has made within so 
small a compass of years, in improvements, wealth, trade and 
navigation; and the extraordinary increase of people who 
have been drawn here from almost every country in Europe. 
A progress which much more ancient settlements on the main 
of America cannot, at the present, boast of. No. It is prin- 
cipally, and almost wholly, owing to the excellency of our 
constitution, under which we enjoy a greater share both of 
civil and religious liberty than any of our neighbours. 

" It is our great happiness, that instead of triennial assem- 



224 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1739 

blies, a privilege which several other colonies have long en- 
deavoured to obtain, but in vain, ours are annual ; and for 
that reason, as well as others, less liable to be practised upon, 
or corrupted, either with money or presents; we sit upon our 
own adjournments, when we please, and as long as we think 
necessary, and are not to be sent a packing in the middle of 
a debate, and disabled from representing our just grievances 
to our gracious sovereign, if there should be occasion, which 
has often been the hard fate of assemblies in other places. 

''We have no officers but what are necessary; none but 
what earn their salaries, and those generall}' arc either elected 
by the people, or appointed by their representatives. 

" Other provinces swarm with unnecessary officers, nomi- 
nated by the governors, who often make it a main part of 
their care to support those officers, notwithstanding their 
oppressions, at all events. I hope it will ever be the wisdom 
of our assemblies to create no great offices or officers, nor 
indeed any officer at all, but wliat is really necessary for the 
service of the country, and to be sure to let the people, or 
their representatives, have at least a share in their nomina- 
tion or appointment. This will always be a good security 
against the mischievous influence of men holding places at 
the pleasure of the governor. 

" Our foreign trade and shipping are free from all imposts, 
except those small duties payable to his majesty by the statute 
laws of Great Britain. The taxes which we pay for carrying 
on the public service are inconsiderable; for the sole power 
of raising and disposing of the public money for the public 
service is lodged in the assembly, who appoint their own 
treasurer, and to them alone he is accountable. Other inci- 
dental taxes are assessed, collected, and applied by persons 
annually chosen by the people themselves. Such is our 
happy state as to civil rights. Nor are we less happy in the 
enjoyment of a perfect freedom as to religion. By many 
years experience, we find that an equality among religious 
societies, without distinguishing any one sect with greater 
privileges than another, is the most effectual method to dis- 
courage hypocrisy, promote the practice of the moral virtues, 



1739] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 225 

and prevent the plagues and mischiefs that always attend re- 
ligious squabbling.(l) 

" This is our constitution, and this constitution was framed 
by the wisdom of Mr. Penn, the first proprietary and founder 
of this province, whose charter of privileges to the inha- 
bitants of Pennsylvania will ever remain a monument of his 
benevolence to mankind, and reflect more lasting honour on 
his descendants than the largest possessions. In the framing 
of this government, he reserved no powers to himself or his 
heirs to oppress the people ; no authority but what is neces- 
sary for our protection, and to hinder us from falling into 
anarchy ; and, therefore, (supposing we could persuade our- 
selves that all our obligations to our great lawgiver, and his 
honourable descendants, were entirely cancelled, yet) our 
own interests should oblige us carefully to support the go- 
vernment on its present foundation, as the only means to 
secure to ourselves and posterity the enjoyments of those 
privileges, and the blessings flowing from such a constitution, 
under which we cannot fail of being happy if the fault be not 
our own."* 

The proprietary land office had been closed from the year 
1718 to the year 1732, during the minorities of Richard and 
Thomas Penn ; and warrants and patents, the usual muni- 
ments of title, were not issued by the commissioners of pro- 
perty, but tickets signed by one of the commissioners, or by 
the secretary of the land office, were substituted. Emigrants 
seated themselves without title, and in many instances with- 
out a ticket, upon such vacant lands as they found convenient. 
The number of settlers of this kind entitled them to great 
consideration. Their rights, accruing by priority of settle- 
ment, were recognised by the public, and passed, with their 
improvements, through many hands, in confidence, that they 
would receive the proprietary sanction. And the practice 
of the land office, when opened, giving preference to actual 
settlers, confirmed this expectation. Great agitation was 
therefore produced by a proprietary proclamation, of Novem- 

(l) See Note K 2, Appendix. * Votes. 

29 



226 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l739 

ber, 173S, requiring this class of settlers, and those who had 
obtained warrants, but had not paid for them, before the first 
of March next ensuing, to pay to the receiver-geneT-al the 
sums due for their lands, under the penalty of ejectment. 
This penalty could not be exacted. The actual settlers, by 
themselves, their friends and vendees, were too strong to be 
forcibly expelled, nor had the proclamation issued in expec- 
tation of this result. The very denial it contained of the 
settler's right was pregnant with an affirmative, admitting 
his title subject to the payment of the purchase money, and 
reducing the proprietary claim to a demand in debt. The 
settler's title, so burthened, has been since sustained by the 
statute laws, and the decrees of the courts, under the name of 
"pre-emption right." The landholders, however, alarmed 
by the proclamation, petitioned the assembly to intercede 
with the proprietaries for further time for the payment of 
their purchase money. This was granted, on the promise of 
the house, to pass any act that should be necessary to prevent 
future intrusions. But this promise having never been re- 
deemed, and the warrantees still procrastinating their pay- 
ments, the proprietaries resorted to vacating warrants, 
invalidating former grants, and directing a survey of the land 
to the new warrantee. But it is doubtful whether these war- 
rants ever issued adversely. Cases of compromise are fre- 
quent.* 

A quarrel between Great Britain and Spain had grown up 
in the year 1737, on account of injuries committed by the 
Spaniards, on the English cutting logwood at Campeachy, and 
gathering salt at Tortugas. The Spaniards not only denied 
these privileges to the English, but they claimed and exer- 
cised, with insolence and cruelty, the right of searching the 
English ships for contraband goods. Their claim to this 
right was in some measure justified from the illicit commerce 
of the English with the Spanish main. Open war was awhile 
prevented by a convention extremely unpopular in England, 
concluded in January, 1738; but its terms not having been 

• Votes. Smith's Laws of Pennsylvania- 



17393 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 227 

observed by Spain, letters of marque and reprisal were issued, 
and general preparations made for war, which was finally de- 
clared on the twenty-third of October, 1739. 

Before the declaration of war, governor Thomas endeav- 
oured to stimulate his people to active measures of defence. 
To the instances of the governor, the assembly pleaded their 
charter and their consciences. They admitted that the ma- 
jority of inhabitants were not now conscientiously opposed to 
war; yet they could pass no law for military purposes, as an 
act constraining the Quakers to bear arms would violate the 
constitution and persecute that people; and to exempt them, 
would be equally inconsistent with their principles, and par- 
tial with regard to others. The governor, they said, as the 
substitute of the captain-general, had authority, without the 
interposition of the legislature, to organize the forces of the 
country from such as felt it a duty to fight, and after the 
practice of former governors, otherwise provide for the pub- 
lic defence, being unrestrained, except by the laws relating 
to liberty of conscience. This ready concession of an au- 
thority to the executive, which had been hitherto strenuously 
denied to all the governors antecedent to Keith, is to be 
ascribed to the great increase of a warlike population. 

Had the governor used this conceded power to organize a 
militia, and to supply the demands of the crown, the requisite 
pecuniary aid would have been furnished by the assembly in 
the form of a benevolence to the king. He chose, unfortu- 
nately, to run a tilt with the religious opinions of a people 
who measured their merit by the extent of suffering for con- 
science sake. He laboured to convince tliem that their prin- 
ciples were inconsistent with the existing state of the world, 
and would lead to the loss of property, liberty, and life. He 
proposed to commute military service for money, pursuant 
to the practice, as he alleged, of the Quakers in Great Britain, 
and denying his authority to command the army, to be suffi- 
cient to compel the people to provide arms, to learn their 
use, and to obey their officers; he relied on Penn's accept- 
ance of his charter, granting this power to him and his heirs, 
as conclusive of the necessity and propriety of bearing arms 



228 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l739 

in defence of the government. He commended their pious 
trust in the Deity ; but derided the hope, which was un- 
sustained by their own exertions, as the folly of the mariner 
who slumbered in the storm, with his sails unfurled, because 
the Lord had power to still the raging waves. 

The reply of the assembly is remarkable for its half- repress- 
ed temper, the flashes of spirit which occasionally break forth 
in their view of the state of the province, in reference to the 
enemy, and the mixture of worldly reasons and religious 
lights, which, mocking at logic, enabled them to ridicule, 
irritate, and confound the governor. They deprecated a dis- 
pute with the governor, the consequences of which were 
more to be feared, than the dangers which impended over 
them. They regretted to have caused his lamentations over 
a country they were so much bound to regard; and that with 
all its advantages and powers of defence, it should become 
the prey of the first invader, by the religious principles of 
its representatives. A position not clear to their understand- 
ing, and they hoped mistaken. For, if it were populous, 
and capable of defending itself, that capacity was unrestrain- 
ed, and want of inclination to exert its power, dind not the 
opinions of its representatives, must subject it to an invader. 
They were protected, they said, by many natural advan- 
tages: their city was on a river of difficult navigation, far 
distant from the sea, and from thence not easily assailed; 
New Jersey covered them on the side of the ocean ; New 
York and New England from the French; and Maryland, 
Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia, from the Spaniards. 
In addition to these protections, they possessed a number of 
inhabitants equal to that of any other colony, disciplined in 
the art of war. And, beside these reasons for remaining 
quiet, it was not yet known that war had been declared. 
Why then should they only be solicitous about an event 
which might never happen? In answer to an assertion of 
the governor, that no purity of heart, nor principles, would 
protect them from an enemy, they answered, that from the 
Almighty Power which superintends the universe, religious 
principles, agreeably to his will, and purity of heart, even as 



17403 HISTOKY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 229 

the world is at present circumstanced, might hope for protec- 
tion; as he could turn the heart of man as he pleased, and 
would have spared even Sodom and Gomorah for the sake of 
ten righteous men. To an argument drawn from the punish- 
ment of criminals, they said that the diflerence was obvious, 
between killing a soldier fighting under a mistaken sense of 
duty, in obedience to the commands of his prince, and a 
burglar, who robbed, and would murder, to attain his ends, 
with a full knowledge that he was violating the laws, human 
and divine. They denied the inference drawn from the mili- 
tary powers given to Penn by the royal charter, and referred 
to the writings of that great man as conclusive against it. 
"They were not desirous," they continued, *' to extend the 
words of that charter further than might be convenient, and 
beneficial to the inhabitants differing from them in reli- 
gious persuasion; although it had been maintained that the 
crown, and consequently others duly authorized by it, 
might, in case of invasion, command men to muster at their 
own expense, and to face an enemy too, in time of danger. 
But, however this might be, there existed no doubt, but the 
people might do this voluntarily, which would be sufficient, 
when convinced that there was real danger." 

Several other messages passed between the governor and 
assembly, in which he displayed much anger, and complained 
that his salary was withheld. The house replied, that their 
general practice had been to make the governor's support and 
other public business go hand in hand; and that, in some 
years, it had been longer deferred than in the present. 

At length, information was received, that war had been 
declared, and that a fleet was equipped under admiral Vernon, 
against the Spanish West Indies, having on board a body of 
land forces, under Charles, lord Cathcart, and that further 
troops were to be raised in the colonies. That no particular 
quota had been fixed for Pennsylvania, as it was not advise- 
able to limit her zeal for the service; but her increased popu- 
lation being considered, it was not doubted but she would 
exert herself to the utmost, under the assurance that she could 
not render a more acceptable service to the crown, nor more 



230 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1740 

essentially promote her own interest. It was, therefore, ex- 
pected that the assembly would provide victuals, transports, 
and all other necessaries, for the troops to be raised in the 
province, until their arrival in the West Indies, when the 
transports would be taken into the pay of the nation. By an 
accomjDanying letter from the duke of Newcastle, the go- 
vernor was required, if he found diiRculty in raising men, to 
permit major-general Spottswood, colonel Blakeny, or any 
person appointed by them, to beat up for volunteers, and to 
assist them to the utmost of his power. 

The governor communicated these instructions to the house; 
and, to incite them to a liberal provision for the troops, he 
reminded them of the state of their treasury. He stated, 
that they had six thousand pounds interest money, with four 
thousand per annum, arising from the last paper money act, 
whilst the excise furnished sufficient to defray the annual 
charges of government. 

The assembly, finding themselves relieved from a militia 
law by the king's instructions, fancied that his majesty had 
been yet more kind to them, and that the governor withheld 
from them a part of his instructions. A committee was ap- 
pointed to request a view of the original letter, under a plea 
that such was the precedent on a former occasion of the like 
nature. He yielded to their wishes, protesting his right to 
refuse them; and, the instructions being found to agree with 
the copies, and no road being open, by which to escape from 
the main question, the house resolved fully and fairly to meet 
it. With a preface of ordinary professions of loyalty, they 
declared, " We have ever esteemed it our duty to pay tribute 
to Caesar, and yield obedience to the powers God has set 
over us, so far as our conscientious persuasion will permit. 
But we cannot preserve good consciences, and come into the 
levying of money, and appropriating it to the uses recommended 
to us in the governor's speech, because it is in opposition to 
the religious principles professed by the greater number of 
the present assembly, who are of the people called Quakers," 

Conceiving that the assembly laid much stress upon the 
words, " uses recommended to us in the governor's speech,'* 



17403 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 231 

Mr, Thomas instantly resolved, to prevent future equivoca- 
tion, to require them to levy money, and appropriate it, ac- 
cording to the king's eighth instruction. Thus pressed, they 
determined to frame a bill, granting a sum of money to the 
use of the crown. But, before it was reported, a vague ru- 
mour of peace, and the state of the harvest, now fit for the 
sickle, induced them to adjourn. 

The Pennsylvania quota of troops, proportioned to the 
whole number required from the colonies, was not more than 
four hundred men. Yet, by the exertions of the governor, and 
the officers to whom this service was entrusted, seven com- 
panies were raised in the space of three months. This ala- 
crity to enlist, might be considered as evidence of want and 
discontent, or of extraordinary excitement on the part of the 
people. Yet there was nothing in this war to arouse a sober 
and reflecting population, like that of Pennsylvania; nor were 
they discontented or in want. Many of the recruits, so 
promptly obtained, were bond-servants, willing to exchange 
their service and freedom dues, for nominal liberty and sol- 
diers' pay. The governor exercised more influence on this 
class, than became the first magistrate of the province, though 
not more than was permissable to an officer of the king, 
whose interest and loyalty were united in obedience to his 
sovereign. 

The troops were to assemble at the capes of Virginia, by 
the middle of September ; but no transports had yet been pro- 
vided. Colonel Gooch, their commander, becoming impa- 
tient, the governor convened the assembly by an angry writ, 
and commanded them to proceed with their appropriation bill. 
But the house, reproaching tbe governor, for having ascribed 
their late adjournment to a want of loyalty, and for having 
encouraged the enlistment of servants, refused to grant any 
money, until those already enlisted should be discharged, and 
assurances given that others should not be engaged. But this 
was a condition not easily performed. Mr. Thomas had 
already, on the application of individuals, addressed notes to 
the military officers, requesting the discharge of servants, if 
they could be persuaded to return to their masters, and if the 



252 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. ("1740 

public service would not be injured. Requests so qualified 
were not very effective ; and, against measures of a more pe- 
remptory character, the governor urged his inability to dis- 
solve the engagement between the recruit and the crown, to 
which all private contracts and obligations were subordinate; 
and he closed his reply with the following remarks. *' I 
should be glad you would show your duty to his majesty, 
and your gratitude for the powers and privileges the people 
of your society enjoy here, more than in any other part of 
his majesty's dominions, by actions as well as words. If 
your principles are inconsistent with the end of govern- 
ment, at a time when his majesty is put under the necessity 
of procuring reparation for his injured subjects by arms, why 
did not j^our consciences restrain you from soliciting a station, 
which your consciences will not allow you to discharge for 
the honour of his majesty, and the interest of those you re- 
present? For it is a piece of injustice for you to involve a 
people, of which you are not one-third in number, in the 
ill consequences that must attend a government under such a 
direction." 

The assembly, having assigned as a cause of their inability 
to appropriate large sums to military purposes, the proprie- 
tary claims upon the treasury for the equalization of quit- 
rents, Thomas Penn instantly ofl'ered, on the part of the 
proprietaries, to postpone their claims until the revenue would 
discharge them, after provision had been made for his ma- 
jesty's forces. But the house, denying the inference which 
had been drawn from their expressions, in relation to quit- 
rents, admitted their ability to give, to be equal to that of any 
of the colonies ; but refused to make any appropriation until 
their grievances, arising from the enlistment of servants, 
were redressed; and threatened to apply to the throne for re- 
lief, to prevent the necessity of which, they solicited the in- 
fluence of Mr. Penn with the governor. But he, unafiected 
by conscientious scruples, avowed his entire approbation of 
Thomas's conduct; and reproved their reluctance to assist the 
king and the nation, notwithstanding his majesty's confidence 
in their zeal, and the affectionate manner in which he had 



1740] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 233 

demanded their assistance. A number of merchants and 
others, inhabitants of Philadelpliia, went in a body to remon- 
strate with the assembly, on their neglect of the king's in- 
structions. They reminded the house, that they were the re- 
presentatives as well of those (much the greater number) who 
did not concur in religious opinions with them, as of such as 
were of their own faith, and they prayed, that they would 
not, in opposition to the laudable example of all the other 
colonies, draw down upon the whole province the just re- 
sentment of his majesty, and of the British nation. Be- 
fore the house could well digest this remonstrance, and the 
reproof of Mr. Penn, they were assailed by an earnest sup- 
plication from four members of the council, entreating them 
seriously to weigh the consequences of their refusal to com- 
ply with the royal orders. 

Pressed by the executive, the proprietaries, and the peo- 
ple, the assembly could no longer refuse to make an appro- 
priation of funds, but they added conditions which rendered 
their grant nugatory. They directed a warrant to be drawn 
by the speaker upon the treasurer, for the sum of three thou- 
sand pounds, payable to commissioners, for the use of his 
present majesty, George the second, for such purposes as he 
should direct, Vv^hen such commissioners should be satisfied 
that all the servants who had enlisted were returned to their 
masters without charge, and that no more should be enlisted; 
and if, within nine months, the king should not direct the 
appropriation of the money, it should be returned to the 
treasurer. They voted the enlistment of servants to be an un- 
just invasion of the properties of their masters, a discourage- 
ment to the importation of white servants, and a great hurt 
and grievance to the inhabitants of the province; and having 
addressed a petition and remonstrance to the throne, they 
adjourned, much against the wishes of the governor. As he 
was not at all disposed to comply with the conditions of the 
legislative grant, he raised funds by the sale of bills on the 
English government, and despatched the troops to the place 
of rendezvous. 

The conduct of this assembly was approved by the people, 
30 



234 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1740 

and all the members except four were returned at the next 
election. At its first session the house ascertained the num- 
ber of servants who had entered the army to be about three 
hundred, for whom payment was immediately made to their 
masters by orders on the trustees of the loan office, amount- 
ing to more than two thousand five hundred pounds. Here, 
pi'obably, would have terminated all altercation upon ques- 
tions connected with the war, had not the siovernor asrain 
endeavoured tp incite the liouse to military efforts. 

The enemy kept several privateers off the coast, which 
cruised successfully against the colonial commerce. The 
governor recon-imended to the assembly to equip vessels of 
war, to grant a bounty for every enemy killed or taken, and 
to provide for the families of seamen killed or wounded in 
the service. The matter and manner of this proposition were 
alike offensive, and were intended to irritate the assembly, 
and to drive them to measures vvhich would injure them with 
the ministry. The merchants, and others who had petitioned 
on a former occasion, presented, on this, a remonstrance, in 
which they accused the house of having disregarded their re- 
presentations; and declared, that unless a due regard should be 
nowshowntotliesafety of the province, they would apply to his 
majesty for relief. But una wed by this threat, the assembly 
voted the remonstrance, a high insult and breach of privilege, 
and meriting to be rejected; and resolved, that if the royal 
navy at Boston, New York, and in Virginia, were inadequate 
for the protection of the coast, little could be expected from 
them, situated so remotely from the sea, and unable to sustain 
the expense.* 

The year 1740 is remarkable in the annals of Pennsylvania 
for the labours of the celebrated enthusiastic itinerant Whit- 
field. He landed at Lewistown in November, 1739, and 
soon after came to Philadelphia. His arrival disturbed the 
religious harmony which had prevailed since the time of 
Keith. He drew to himself many followers from all deno- 
minations, who, influenced by the energy of his manner, the 

• Votes. 



1740] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 235 

thunder of his voice, and his flowing eloquence, were ready- 
to subscribe his unnatural and incomprehensible faith, pro- 
fessing their willingness to endure eternal damnation, that 
they might be for ever saved. His disciples were chiefly the 
illiterate and uninformed, who made up in zeal what they 
lacked in knowledge. Their number seems to have awed the 
journalists, who would not venture to correct the misstate- 
ments of his friends without an apology for interference. 
Like most reformers, he turned the force of his artillery 
against the amusements and pleasures of society. His attend- 
ant, Seward, audaciously closed the doors of the concert and 
assembly room, for which he was compelled to apologize. 
But he announced in the Gazette, that since Mr. Whitfield's 
preaching, the dancing school, assembly, and concert room 
had been closed, as inconsistent with the doctrines of the 
gospel; and though the gentlemen concerned, had broken 
open the doors, no company attended on their invitation. This 
boast appears to have been premature. Fur these amusements 
returned with the usual season for their practice.* 

The clergy of the baptist communion were the most dis- 
tinguished converts. By their horrible threats of eternal 
torments, their flocks, driven almost to phrenzy, expelled 
from their pulpit and society the reverend Ebenezer Kin- 
nersly, distinguished as the associate of Franklin in his elec- 
trical experiments, the only man of their sect who opposed 
their wild extravagance.? His great offence was a sermon 
preached before his congregation, in which he endeavoured to 
lessen the influence of the terrorists, and to restore order and 
peace to<the aff'righted church. 

Mr. Whitfield erected by subscription a large and commo- 
dious brick church, in Fourth street, Philadelphia, which was 
vested in trustees for the use of any preacher, of any religious 
persuasion, who might desire to address the citizens. J 

The war now located in the West Indies, occasioned great 
demands by friend and foe for provisions. To prevent the 



• Franklin Gazttte. f Du Simltiere MS. Franklin. ^ Frank- 

lin. 



236 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l74! 

supply of the enemy, an embargo was laid on all sorts of pro- 
visions in Great Britain and Ireland, and a bill interdicting 
their export, except to the British dominions, was introduced 
into parliament. But the zeal of governor Thomas had anti- 
cipated this measure in Pennsylvania, by proclamation, 
limiting the export of provisions to British ports. He en- 
deavoured also to prevail on the assembly entirely to prohibit 
the export of wheat. The house not only refused his request, 
but intimated that he was fortunately protected by the king's 
proclamation, and act of parliament, from an inquiry into the 
legality of the restriction which he had himself laid upon 
commerce. 

On the departure of Thomas Penn for Europe,* the assem- 
bly presented him an affectionate and conciliatory address, 
soliciting his future presence, or that of some other of the 
proprietaries, as a control upon the governor, and the safe- 
guard of their constitution. He in return recommended to 
them, the defence of the province, in which they would have 
the aid of the governor, who, he said, had no views but the 
king's honour, and the security of their constituents. 

At the election of this year the old members having been 
returned, they re-appointed the officers of the preceding year. 
John Kinsey, who had succeeded Andrew Hamilton, was 
elected speaker for the third time. When presented to the go- 
vernor, the latter reproached him for his conduct at the head 
of former assemblies, and very ungraciously approved of his 
nomination. Kinsey made a formal report of this treatment 
to the house, which resolved, that his conduct was marked 
by fidelity and a due regard to the rights of the people; and 
that the governor's reception of the speaker and the house 
was unparliamentary, menacing, and destructive of the free- 
dom of the legislature. At this session, the house, considering 
the taxes under wiiich their fellow subjects in Great Britain 
laboured, and desirous to show their own unwillingness to 
bear a proportionate share of the public burden, were induced 
unanimously to pay the sum of three-thousand pounds for the 

* August. 



1741] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 237 

use of the crown, by their agent at London, into the exche- 
quer. 

The crowded state of the passenger ships from Ireland and 
Germany, sornetimes engendering pestilential fevers, had 
early invited the attention of the legislature. The landing 
of infected passengers in the city was forbidden; but ample 
provision was not made for the sickly emigrants. Governor 
Thomas had frequently recommended to the assembly to build 
a lazaretto, but they had hitherto pleaded their poverty. Dr. 
Grseme, the port-physician, whose duty it was to visit all un- 
healthy vessels, having resigned his office, in consequence of 
the refusal of the assembly to pay his account, was succeeded 
by Dr. Zacharry Lloyd, by the appointment of the assembly. 
A virulent dispute was engendered by the governor's denial 
of the right of the house to appoint this officer; and, during 
the contest, the duties of the place being neglected, a conta- 
gious distemper, attended by great mortality, was introduced 
into the city, from some vessels having German passengers 
on board. This afflicting dispensation was charitably ascribed 
by the governor and assembly each to the other, by having 
suspended or impeded the duties of the port-physician. Both 
parties made the dispute a mean for flattering the Germans, 
whom they proclaimed to be an honest and valuable portion 
of the population: all fears of foreigners had faded away; and 
each charged the other with the hostility which both had dis- 
played against foreigners generally.' The Germans now 
formed a large proportion of the landholders of the province; 
and, what was at present more to the purpose, a large propor- 
tion of the voters, who must determine the character of the 
next assembly. From this dispute grew the determination 
of the house to establish a lazaretto. An island, subsequently 
called Province island, a valuable tract of three hundred and 
forty-two acres, situated at the confluence of the rivers Dela- 
ware and Schuylkill, was purchased. The property was 
vested in trustees, who were created a board of health, with 
the necessary powers to prevent the approach of sickly ves- 
sels to the town, and to retain diseased passengers until con- 
valescent. The expense incurred was chargeable on the im- 



238 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l741 

porter, to whom recourse was given against the effects of the 
passengers. 

The quarrel between the governor and assembly became 
uncontrollable, either by official forms or a sense of public 
decorum. Charges of untruth, imposture, hypocrisy, tyranny, 
and faction, disgraced the addresses of the one, and the re- 
plies of the other. The governor, having lost all hope of 
convincing the house, or reforming its conduct, wrote mes- 
sages only to open the eyes of its deluded constituents; whilst 
the house charged him with the design of subverting the 
liberties of the people. They found evidence in support of 
this allegation, in his correspondence with the ministry; co- 
pies of which had been procured and transmitted by the pro- 
vincial agent. To obtain favour with the crown, and to pro- 
tect himself against the remonstrance of the assembly, the 
governor had represented it as vain to hope for military aid 
from Pennsylvania, whilst the Quakers had the right of sit- 
ting in the assembly, and that body was empowered to dispose 
of the public money, and to meet and adjourn at pleasure. 
These privileges, he earnestly recommended, should be sup- 
pressed. He represented, that the Quakers, by the direction 
of the yearly meeting, had been unusually active in procuring 
seats in the assembly; and that, of thirty members, three only 
were not of that sect. That they had abused the confidence 
of the Germans; had prejudiced them against the govern- 
ment, by inducing them to believe, that a mild militia law 
would reduce them to slavery, such as they had suffered under 
the German princes; that they would be impoverished by the 
expense, would be dragged from their farms, and compelled 
to build forts, in return for their admission into the province. 
He stated the province to be rapidly increasing in population, 
and its wealth to be ten thousand pounds in bank, and an an- 
nual income of seven thousand live hundred pounds, from 
th.e loan-office and excise. He portrayed the conduct of the 
assembly in the darkest colours, and expressed a wish to re- 
sign as soon as he could safely transport himself and family 
to England.* 

* Governor Thomas's letter, Oct. 20, 1740. 



1741] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 239 

To these offences, the governor sddccl, an unseasonable at- 
tention to the jealous inquiries of the mother country into 
the laws, manufactures, and trade, of the provinces, which 
might, in anyway, affect herself; and informed the ministry, 
that the colonists, by means of their imported servants, who 
were chiefly tradesmen, were enabled to conduct many spe- 
cies of manufactures at cheap rates, interfering directly with 
the trade of England. 

Party contentions effectually impeded the public business. 
The governor's salary remained unpaid until its arrears 
amounted to fifteen hundred pounds ; and no law Jiad been 
sanctioned by the governor, since the refusal of the assembly 
to provide funds for the West India expedition. And, though 
the house offered '' so far to overlook the asperity of his last 
message, and the repeated indignities thrown upon them, as 
to make further provision for his support," on condition that 
he gave his assent to their bills, yet the governor declined to 
consider them until he should be released from all undue in- 
fluence, by the payment of the customary allowance. The 
house, refusing to confide in h\tn, adjourned without day. 
Among the measures, to sustain himself and party, now re- 
sorted to by the governor, was the removal from office of such 
persons as were opposed to his views : a precedent too closely 
followed by the governors of Pennsylvania under every con- 
stitution; and which, in too many instances, has sacrificed all 
sense of meritorious service, ability, and purity of character, 
to the miserable cravings of needy partisans. In a popular 
government, offices are created for the public benefit; the 
incumbents are the mere instruments, by which (lie body po- 
litic operates. To reward party services by the appointment 
to office, is to incite men to form parties for the sake of ofiice 
only. And the choice of the executive, having power to re- 
move his opponents from office, and to appoint his friends, 
must always be questionable as to its purity and propriety. 

Among the victims of governor Thomas' intolerance, was 
John Wright, of the county of Lancaster, distinguished by 
liis good sense, and the mildness but firmness of his temper. 
He had been many years a memijer of the assembly, was a 



240 HISTOllY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1742 

justice of the peace, and president of the common pleas. 
Having learned the intention of the governor to remove him, 
he attended the May session of the court, and before the pub- 
lication of the new commissions, delivered his charge to the 
grand jury, in which he remarked, "I was always a friend 
to power, well knowing that good and wholesome laws, duly 
executed, are so far from being a restraint upon true liberty, 
that they are only as regulating springs to the passions, and 
productive of it. And our worthy founder and first proprie- 
tary tells us, that he composed his frame of government with 
a view to support power in reverence with the people, and to 
secure the people from the abuse of power; and these two 
are generally seen to attend each other, as causes and effects. 
And a noted professor of the law* in this province some years 
ao"o, when he espoused the cause of liberty, and, loaded with 
age and infirmities, took a long journey in defence of it, has 
these words on power: ' It may justly be compared to a great 
river, which, while kept within due bounds, is both beautiful 
and useful; but, when it overflows its banks, is then too im- 
petuous to be stemmed, it bears down all before it, and brings 
destruction and desolation where it comes.' 

" If, then, these are the ill effects of lawless power, every 
wise man ought to be on his guard to prevent them, by keep- 
ing up the banks of liberty and common right, the only bul- 
wark against it. 

"It was in defence and support of this great bulwark, 
against the attempts of power, under a pretence of serving 
his majesty, but done in such a manner as, I apprehend, can- 
not be supposed ever intended or expected by our most gra- 
cious sovereign, whose distinguishing character is to protect, 
and not to oppress ; and whatever burden the necessity of the 
times requires to be laid upon the subjects under his imme- 
diate and just administration, is laid equally and impartially: 
I say it was to the opposition given by the house of repre- 
sentatives to the manner in which these attempts were made, 
and the jus>conocrn and dislike showed thereto, that we may 
impute the late changes made in the commissions of the pcace^ 
• Andrew Hamilton, on the trial of Zengar, at New York. 



1742] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 241 

throughout the province, whatever other pretences they may- 
be glossed with. 

" For this cause, my friends and countrymen, for the cause 
of English liberty, for the standing in the civil defence of 
right and property, are we dismissed; and I rejoice, and am 
heartily glad, that I have been one of those who are thought 
worthy of displeasure." 

*' And now to conclude, I take my leave in the words of 
a judge in Israel. 'Here I am, witness against me; whom 
have I defrauded; whom have I oppressed; or, of whose 
hands have I received any bribe to blind my eyes withal? 
and I will restore it.' " 

The zeal and labours of the two parties were quite equal 
to the theatre on which they acted, and to the importance of 
the subjects contested. Both looked with anxiety and hope 
to the approaching election, and engaged earnestly in the 
preparatory canvass. The Quaker, or country party, had 
their chief strength in the counties, whilst the gentlemen'' s 
or governor's party mustered theirs from the city. The 
leaders of the former were the members of assembly and 
principal Quakers. Among them we discover the names of 
Kinsey, the speaker, Roberts, Lloyd, Preston, the treasurer, 
Wharton, Pemberton, Lownes, Meredith, Norris, Hudson, 
Fisher, Evans, Mifflin, Griffits, and Warder. On the adverse 
party were ranged the governor, Clement Plumstead, the 
mayor, William Allen, the recorder. Tench Francis, the 
attorney-general. Turner, and most of the city aldermen, 
and niiigistratcs of the county. The greatest interest was 
excited in the county of Philadelphia, where the strength of 
the parties was more equally divided. 

The votes of the whole county of Philadelphia were given 
at the court house, in Market street; and on the morning of 
the first of October it was requisite that the inspectors of the 
general election should be chosen by acclamation. The 
country party collected their friends, and especially the Ger- 
mans, to the number of a thousand, on the eve of the election 
day; and their leaders convened at the house of Hugh Mere- 
dith, to nominate their candidates for inspectors. The go- 
31 



242 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l742 

vernor's party proposed to this convention, an equal division 
of the inspectors, but this ofler was refused on the supposition 
that it was dictated by weakness, and the country party could 
not discover that they possessed the right to dispose of the 
votes of the people. But as they had ascertained that the 
"gentlemen" dreaded the violence of the Germans, many of 
whom, being aliens, might be irritated by their rejection at 
the hustings, they resolved, in order to prevent tumult, that 
every appearance of force should be forbidden, and that even 
those of their friends who wore canes should leave them at 
home. Early on the morning of the election day a party of 
sailors, about seventy in number, strangers, from on board 
the ships in the harbour, marched through the streets in a 
riotous manner. Many of the inhabitants, apprehensive that 
these sailors would disturb the peace at the election, applied 
to the magistrates to take precautionary measures. But their 
suggestions were coldly received, and the presence of the 
sailors on the election ground was affirmed to be as justifiable 
as that of the alien Germans; and the recorder intimated that 
the country party might condemn themselves for any violence 
that might occur as consequential to their refusal to compro- 
mise the election of inspectors. The electors having assem- 
bled, proceeded to choose the inspector. William Allen was 
first proposed, and rejected; and Isaac Norris was elected. 
At this moment the sailors, headed by captains Mitchell and 
Redmond, marched up through the Jersey market, and as- 
saulted the freeholders with bludgeons, knocking down all 
who stopped their way, not sparing the magistrates, who 
endeavoured to check their j)rogress. Having cleared the 
ground, they retired: But when the poll was opened for the 
general election they returned, forcibly possessed themselves 
of the stairs leading to the hustings, beating and wounding 
those of the country party who withstood them. The for- 
bearance of this part}' being at length overcome, they seized 
the first weapons at hand, drove tlie sailors to their ships, 
capturing about fifty of thejn, who, with tlie leaders, Mitchell 
and Redmond, were committed to prison. The election, which 
was not further interrupted, terminatcil in the triumph of the 



1742 J HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 243 

country party, who returned the members of the former 
house without exception.* 

Upon an investigation before the assembly into the cir- 
cumstances of this riot, there arose violent presumptions, that 
it was excited by the " gentlemen's party." The threats of 
their active partizans before the affray began; the indifference 
of the mayor and recorder, aldermen and magistrates, who 
were of their party, to the conduct of the sailors in the morn- 
ing, and upon the election ground; the factthat some unknown 
persons had, the night preceding, engaged the sailors to ap- 
pear at the hustings against the Quakers ; the well accredited 
reports, that money had been promised them, and had been 
advanced to them in the prison, with other circumstances, 
impressed the assembly with the conviction that these strangers 
had been engaged by the governor's party. An address was 
sent up to governor Thomas, praying him to charge the su- 
preme court with the trial of the mayor, recorder, and other 
city officers, who would, otherwise, in the usual course, be 
brought before the mayor's court, of which they were mem- 
bers. The governor refused, under the pretence that the 
latter had exclusive jurisdiction of offences committed in the 
city of Philadelphia. The assembly referred the question of 
jurisdiction to their speaker, whose opinion that the power of 
the two courts was concurrent, ihey adopted, and embodied in 
a resolution, censuring the chief officers of the police for 
gross noglect of dut\': being as far as the direct evidence 
before the house would warrant them to proceed. 

Both parties at length grew weary of an unprofitable con- 
test, and the governor, who daily felt more sensibly the 
withholding of his salary, made advances towards reconcilia- 
tion, and expressed his wish that the house would deserve 
the name which the hopes of all good men had given it, of the 
healing assembly. His ready sanction of several bills sent 
up was followed by an appropriation of fifteen hundred 
pounds for his use; and thus was terminated a long and acrimo- 
nious dispute. The triumph of the assembly was complete. 

* \'()tCS. 



244 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1744 

They had taken no step of a military character, nor made any 
gift of money inconsistent with their principles. They had 
preserved the reputation of loyalty by paying to masters of 
enlisted servants a compensation for their loss, and by libera,! 
donations to the crown, amounting, together, to near six 
thousand pounds; and, though in the protracted discussion of 
the governor's measures, they had entered more minutely 
into the consideration of the number of troops demandable 
from the province, than was consistent with their pacific 
principles, and at times were disposed to trust more to their 
local situation than to their faith, against the ravages of war; 
yet these views may be ascribed more to the ardour of debate, 
than to doubts of the effects of their creed, or their wishes to 
propitiate their constituents. If the members of assembly 
were conscientiously scrupulous against yielding military aid, 
they were alike scrupulous not to check the eflbrts of others. 
The exertions of the province were conclusive upon this sub- 
ject. She had raised eight full companies of men, and had 
furnished transports and provisions in abundance; and though 
the governor might complain of the assembl}^, he had no 
cause to reproacli the indiflbrence of the people; their efforts 
gave full effect to his wislies, and placed him as high in the 
esteem of the ministry as he had reason to anticipate. 

A masked and indirect war had been, for some time, car- 
ried on between France and Great Britain ; and hostilities 
were openly declared, by the former on the twentieth, and 
by the latter on the thirty-first of Marcii. Tiiis event re- 
quired new military energies from governor Thomas. But, 
instructed by experience, he conducted himself temperately 
toward the assembly, and no longer sought to bear down 
their opinions by heat and arrogance, but laboured to supply 
those things which tlieir religious opinions forbade them to 
furnish. He commanded, by proclamation, all the able-bodied 
inhabitants to prepare arms, and commissioned officers, and 
appointed days for training. In these matters he was unin- 
terrupted by the house; which, satisfied with being permitted 
to act consistently with their sense of duty, were not disposed 
to inquire with unnecessary strictness into the manner in 
which he performed his. 



1744] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 245 

The exertions of Franklin, on this occasion, contributed 
greatly to the security of the province, and to the preserva- 
tion of harmony between the executive and assembly. He 
published a pamphlet, entitled " Plain Truth," exhibiting in 
strong lights the helpless state of the province, and the ne- 
cessity of union and discipline. Calling a meeting of the 
citizens, he laid before them a plan for a military association : 
twelve hundred signatures were immediately procured,"and 
the volunteers soon amounted to ten thousand, armed at their 
own expense, and officered by their own choice. Franklin 
was chosen colonel of the Philadelphia regiment, but, de- 
clining the service, alderman Lawrence was elected on his 
recommendation. By Franklin's means, also, a battery was 
erected below the city, from funds raised by lottery, in which 
Logan and many other Quakers were adventurers. Logan, 
who was not scrupulous in relation to defensive war, directed 
what ever prizes he might draw should be applied to the 
service of the battery.* 

These military preparations were necessary to intimidate a 
foreign enemy, and to curb the hostile disposition of the In- 
dians, which had been awakened by several unpleasant rencon- 
tres with the whites. 

In 1742, a party of Indians, consisting of twenty-one Onon- 
dagoes, and seven Oneidas, under the command of a captain 
of the former nation, made an excursion against the Talla- 
poosas, resident in Virginia. They left their canoes at Har- 
ris's landing, on the Susquehannah river, and, procuring a 
pass or letter of protection, from a magistrate of Lancaster 
county, travelled jjeaceably through the province, obtaining 
sujjplies of provisions from the inhabitants. They were di- 
rected to obtain a renewal of their pass from the civil authori- 
ties in Virginia, after they should cross the Potomac, but this 
they found impossible, being unable to make themselves un- 
derstood. The country through which they travelled, afforded 
little game, and the inhabitants refused them the means of sus- 
tenance, yet they pursued their way in despite of their suf- 

• Franklin Mem. 



246 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1744 

ferings from hunger, and the interruptions of the whites, who 
were jealous of their intentions. At length, near James river, 
a considerable number of English, having ascertained their 
force from a hunter, who had approached them in the woods, 
pursued and fired upon two boys, who brought up the Indian 
rear. The Indian chief, desirous of a parley, forbade the 
return of the fire. But, receiving a second round from the 
whites, which killed two and wounded several of their num- 
ber, the Indians threw down their bundles, fired their muskets, 
and rushed upon their assailants, killed ten of them, and put 
the remainder to flight. The slaughter would have been 
greater, had not the chief checked the pursuit. From the 
diminution their force had sustained, the Indians deemed it 
prudent to abandon their enterprise. They returned by a 
difierent route, having despatched a messenger to Onondago, 
to relate the news, and to charge their nation not to revenge 
their loss, unless they should themselves be attacked,* 

This affair caused great alarm in Virginia, Maryland, and 
Pennsylvania, On the eve of a war witli France, the aliena- 
tion of the Indians was greatly to be dreaded; and their 
proneness to revenge scarce left a hope that they would re- 
main quiet under so fatal an insult. Governor Thomas de- 
spatched a messenger to Conrad Weiser, the provincial inter- 
preter, commanding him to proceed to Shamokin, to renew 
the assurances of friendship, and to propose his mediation 
between the Indians and the government of Virginia, Hap- 
pily this attention induced them to hold a treaty the ensuing 
spring, and to refrain from hostility in the meantime.! 

In the interval, new causes of uneasiness arose, in which 
the province was more specially concerned. John Armstrong, 
a noted Indian trader, and his two servants, were murdered 
by an Indian of the Delaware tribe. The murderer was de- 
livered up by his nation, and imprisoned at Lancaster, whence 
he was removed to Philadelphia, lest he should escope, or his 
trial and execution should produce an unfavourable impression 
on his countrymen about to assemble, for a conference with 

* Gazette. Votes. j Ibid. 



1745] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA, 247 

the whites, at the former place. The governor also required 
that the property of the deceased should be returned to his 
family; and he invited a deputation to attend the trial of the 
Indian, and his execution, should he be found guilty. 

The conference at Lancaster was attended by the governor 
himself, in person, and by the agents of Virginia and Mary- 
land. All matters of dispute between the parties were satis- 
factorily settled. The Indians engaged to prevent the French, 
and the Indians in their alliance, from marching through 
their country to attack the English settlements; and that they 
would give the earliest information they received of the 
enemy's designs; and,in consideration of four hundred pounds, 
they recognised the title of the king to thecolony of Virginia, 
as it was then, or should be, afterwards, bounded. The favour 
of the Indians was not obtained gratuitously. Pennsylvania 
presented them with three hundred pounds currency; Mary- 
land, one hundred pounds; and Virginia, two hundred pounds, 
with the addition of a promise to recommend the Six nations 
to the consideration of his majesty. But this conference did 
not remove causes of future disquiet. These lay in the en- 
croachments of the settlers, and in the conduct of the traders; 
who, in defiance of the laws, carried spirituous liquors to the 
Indian wigwams; and, taking advantage of the inordinate 
passion of the savage for this poison, cheated them of their 
skins, and their wampum, and debauched their wives. '' Is 
it to be wondered at, then," said governor Thomas, "if, 
when the Indians recover from their drunken fit, they should 
take severe revenge?" Or would it have been a matter of 
surprise, had they charged on the whites, in the aggregate, 
the vicesof individuals, and sought vengeance on the nations 
whose citizens daily assumed their soil, and destroyed the 
best of their people. 

Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, having conceived the 
design of attacking the French settlements at Cape Breton, 
and the conquest of Louisburg, its capital, endeavoured to 
enlist the other colonies in the enterprise. The capture of 
this place was an object of the first importance. It was the 
largest and most commodious position of the French in Amc- 



248 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1745 

rica, affording safe harbourage for their largest vessels, and a 
place of rendezvous for their numerous privateers, now in- 
festing the western shores of the Atlantic. As the design 
originated with the people of New England, and had not been 
sanctioned by the crown, commodore Warren, the English 
commandant on the American station, declined to join Shir- 
ley in the attack. And the assembly of Pennsylvania also 
refused their assistance, alleging that the other colonies had 
not been consulted upon the design, or the manner of its exe- 
cution: that, in case of success, the honour would be chiefly 
ascribed to Massachusetts, whilst the shame of defeat might 
be more equally distributed. They urged, also, the uncer- 
tainty of the aid or approbation of the crown, and the po.ssi- 
bility that the enterprise would interfere with the views of 
the British ministry. 

The plan having been communicated to the British govern-^ 
ment, was warmly approved. Wari-en was commanded to 
repair to Boston, and to render all possible aid to the views 
of Shirley. He did not arrive, however, until after the pro- 
vincial fleet had sailed with six thousand men, commanded 
by Mr. Pepperel, a trader of Piscataqua. The application 
to Pennsylvania was renewed by Shirley and Warren. But 
the assembly, though unable longer to doubt the approba- 
tion of the king, resolved to consider the enterprise as a pri- 
vate one, until they should receive instructions from the 
ministry. This covert served them for a short time only. 
The duke of Newcastle's letter arrived at the close of July, 
directing them to furnish men, provisions, and shipping, on 
the requisition of commodore Warren. 

The governor and assembly now understood each other. 
The one knew he should in vain press any measure having 
the undisguised aspect of war. The other had discovered 
that their principles could be preserved from open violation, 
only, by free contributions of money; and they no longer 
hesitated to resort to the " only expedient hitherto found to 
remove the difficulties" arising from conscientious scruples; 
"that of demonstrating their loyalty and affection to the 
crown, by giving a sum of money to the king's use." They 



17453 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 249 

resolved, therefore, to grant the sum of four thousand pounds 
to trustees, to be expended in the purchase of bread, beef, 
pork, flour, wheat, or other gram* to be purchased in the 
province, and to be shipped for the king's service, as the 
governor should think fit. 

The enterprise against Louisburg terminated honourably 
for those who had projected and executed it. After two 
months' siege, during which the provincial forces displayed 
courage, activity, and fortitude, that would have distinguished 
veteran troops, the town surrendered.! The English officers 
and historians have made a shameful effort to take from the 
colonies this early trophy of their spirit and capacity. Smol- 
let is guilty of an equivocal statement of the facts by which 
Warren is brought on the scene before the departure of the 
provincial troops from Boston, when in truth they sailed 
without any expectation of his assistance, having a knowledge 
of his refusal to join them. The British ministry, though 
sufficiently forward to sustain the exclusive pretensions of 
their officers, was compelled by the merits of the provincials 
to distinguish their leader, Pepperel, with a baronetcy of 
Great Britain. 

The Shawanese Indians, on the Ohio, who had long shown 
symptoms of disaffi^clion to the English, and subserviency 
to the French causo, now openly assumed a hostile charac- 
ter. Peter Chartier, a half blood and trader, was a French 
spy, who dwelt chiefly in Philadelphia. In 1743 he endeav- 
oured to engage the Shawanese in war with the Six nations. 
This offi-'uce was overlooked by the Pennsylvania govern- 
ment, from an apprehension that .his punishment would serve 
as a pretext for violence to their traders; but being repri- 
manded by governor Thomas for some other impropriety, he 
became alarmed, fled to the Shawanese, and persuaded them 

• Dr. Franklin assures us, that the words " other grain" m ere intended 
to cover the application of p;irl of the nrioney granted to tiie piiichase of 
gunpowder; and that governor Thomas actually expended a part of it for 
this black grain, and was never accused of mis-appropriating llie fund. 

I Smollet. Memoirs of the late war in America. Hutchinson. 

32 



250 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l745 

to declare for the French. Soon after, at the head of four 
hundred of their warriors, he lay in wait on the Allegheny 
river for the provincial traders, captured two of them, and 
exhibiting a captain's commission from France, seized their 
property to the value of sixteen hundred pounds.* 

The policy of the French had been long directed to seduce 
all the Indian tribes from the English interest. Their efforts 
at this juncture upon the Six nations, produced great alarm 
in Pennsylvania. Commissioners were despatched to a con- 
vention at Albany, with presents to support their fidelity, 
but the officers who conducted the conference on the part of 
the Endisli, were desirous to induce these nations to take 
up the hatchet against the French, and become parties in the 
war. Tb.ey justified this barbarous policy by the example of 
the enemy, and the impossibility of restraining the Indians 
from blood, whilst they beheld it flowing round them; for, if 
not engaged by their friends, they would strike against them 
rather than not participate in the war ; and they urged that 
the tomahawk of the savage had already been dyed in the 
blood of the border settlers in the neighbouring colonies, and 
that the prospect of indiscriminate massacre was opened along 
the whole frontier. But their instances were unavailing, as 
had been those of alike nature frequently made by New York 
and Massachusetts. The Six nations showed no disposition 
to engage in the contest. They felt their importance, and 
flattered themselves that they might incline the balance of 
power between the parties at their pleasure; but, they held 
it impolitic to turn the scale for either, for whilst they re- 
mained neuter, they were caressed and paid by both. If 
either obtained the sole possession of the country, they would 
cease to be considered, and finally would be compelled to 
submit to the will of the conqueror. 

Governor Thomas prudently prepared to resist the inroads 
of the Shawanese. by organizing and disciplining the militia 
of Lancaster county, and despatching Conrad Weiser, the 
Indian interpreter, to the Delawares, at Shamokin, with or- 

* Votes. 



1746] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 251 

ders to watch the march of the enemy, and to attack him 
should he advance, and, if pressed, to fall back upon the 
frontier inhabitants for protection. 

The assembly acquiesced in the military measures of the 
governor, except those for making the Indians parties to the 
'war. This they earnestly and sincerelydeprecated, whilst they 
professed their entire readiness to furnish money for further 
presents, should it be necessary to preserve the Indians faith- 
ful to the British crown.* 

The ministry having resolved to attempt the conquest of 
Canada by a combined European and colonial force, forward- 
ed their instructions to the provincial governors at the close 
of the month of May, In pursuance of these, Mr. Thomas 
summoned the assembly, and demanded funds to arm and 
support such forces as might be raised in Pennsylvania. The 
house did not object to appropriate money for this purpose, 
but on the plea of an exhausted treasury, the}^ endeavoured 
to obtain the governor's concurrence in the increase of their 
paper currency to such an amount, that the sum they should 
give might be paid from the interest on the balance of the 
new emission in some stated time; but when satisfied that his 
hands were completely tied by the royal instructions, they 
voted five thousand pounds, in bills, redeemable from the 
excise in ten years. With this money the governor raised 
four companies, which he sent to Albany; a further expense 
of twelve hundred pounds in their equipment was subse- 
quently paid by the assembly. Though the attempt on Canada 
was abandoned, the troops were retained nearly eighteen 
months at Albany, with the view of over-awing the Indians, 
and protecting the northern frontier; but they were main- 
tained by the crown, the assembly of Pennsylvania refusing 
further contribution. 

On the fifth of May, the governor communicated to the 
house the death of John Penn, one of the proprietaries, and 
his own resolution, on account of ill health, to resign the 

• Votes. 



252 ^ HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l746 

government. His parting with the house was distinguished 
by mutual cordiality and respect. 

Governor Thomas was active, industrious, and capable; at- 
tached to the province, but more devoted to the proprietaries 
and the king. In his zeal for his majesty, he overlooked the 
principles and character of the people he was called to govern." 
He believed himself sufficiently strong in polemical contro* 
versy, to shake the opinions for which their ancestors had 
broken the tender charities of kindred and country, and which 
they themselves cherished with enthusiasm. Failing in this, 
he endeavoured to intimidate men, who, though declining to 
exhibit military courage, were no respecters of persons, and 
had never displayed political cowardice. When experience 
had taught him properly to appreciate the Quaker character, 
and to determine how far, and in what manner, their loyalty 
could be shown, unchecked by their consciences, he drew 
from them, without difficulty, whatever he could in propriety 
demanil. His moderation, and considerate forbearance to- 
wards the Quakers, during the latter years of his administra- 
tion, were rewarded by the esteem of the people, and the 
confidence of the legislature. 

Few laws of general nature were enacted during his admi- 
nistration. Three only merit particular attention: 1, An act 
extending the privilege of taking an affirmation instead of an 
oath, to persons not Quakers. This act was repealed by the 
king in council. 2, "An act for naturalizing such protestants 
as are settled or shall settle within the province, who, not be- 
ing of the people called Quakers, do conscientiously refuse 
the taking of an oath." Prior to the act of 13 Geo. II., for 
the naturalization of persons settling in American colonies, 
aliens were naturalized in Pennsylvania by special bills. By 
that act it was provided, that all persons residing seven years 
in the colonies, taking an oath, or, if Quakers, an affirmation, 
of allegiance and abjuration, and professing the Christian reli- 
gion as prescribed by the act of the first of William and Mary, 
should be considered as natural born" subjects. The Dunkards, 
Moravians, and Menists, now numerous in the province, were 
excluded from the benefit of this act, by their scruples in 



1746] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 253 

regard to oaths. For remedy of this, the above act was 
passed in 1742, wlien all paities were desirous to conciliate 
the Germans. 3, "An act for the speedy trial of capital 
oflfences committed by the Indians, in the remote parts of the 
province." This act empowered* tlie supreme couit, and the 
court of oyer and terminer of the county of Philadelphia, to 
try all such offences, as if they were committed in that 
county. 

Nolaws were necessary to dispose of the funds of the pro- 
vince; a simple resolution of the assembly, only, was suffi- 
cient. This power they acquired by a clause inserted in the 
currency and excise bills, the effect of which seems to have 
escaped the notice of the governor, though it entirely excluded 
him from this important branch of legishilive authority. 

During the administration of governor Thomas (1742), a 
convention of deputies from the Six nation and Delaware 
Indians, was held at Philadelphia, for the purpose of termi- 
nating some dispute which had arisen between the latter 
tribe and the proprietaries, relative to a cession of lands. A 
tract, lying in the forks of the Delaware and Lehigh rivers, 
extending back into the woods as far as a tnan can go in 
a day and a half, denominated the ivalking purchase, had 
been sold to William Penn by the Delawares, in 1736, and 
confirmed by the same tribe by their deed, dated twenty-fifth 
of August, 1737. The lines of this purchase having been 
traced by very expert walkers, and, including more land than 
the Indians expected, increased the dissatisfaction which had 
prevailed among them in relation to the grant of 1736. The 
Indians complained that the walkers, who outstripped them, 
ran, and did not pursue the course of the river, as they anti- 
cipated. The chief, Nutimus, and others, who signed the 
treaty of 1737, refused to yield peaceable possession of these 
lands, and declared their intention to maintain themselves by 
force of arms. Under these circumstances, the proprietaries 
invoked the interposition of the Six nations, whose authority 
over the Delawares was well known. Upon this invitation, 
a deputation of two hundred and thirty from these powerful 
tribes visited Philadelphia, where they were met by dele- 



254 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1746 

gates from the Delavvares, who had also been invited. Having 
heard the complaints of the governor against the latter, for 
their retention of the purchased lands, and their misconduct, 
in writing rude and abusive letters to the proprietaries, Ca- 
nassatago, on the part of the Six nations, told the governor, 
" That they saw the Delawares had been an unruly people, 
and were altogether in the wrong: that they had concluded 
to remove them, and oblige them to go over the river Dela- 
ware, and quit all claim to any lands on this side for the 
future, since they had received pay for tliem, and it is gone 
through their guts long ago."* Then, in the tone of a con- 
queror and master, he reprehended the Delawares for their 
perfidy, and commanded them to remove, either to Wyoming 
or Shamokin, and forbadeVhem to interfere in the sales of 
land.(l) 

• Smith's Laws of Pennsylvania. (1) See Note L 2, Appendix. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Presidency of Anthony Palmer* •••Insults from the enemy iii 
the Delaware bay- •••Indian transactions^^^ •Military efforts 
• •••Peace^^^-Disputes between the council and assembly*'-* 
Governor Hamilton^^'-Indians^^^ •Removal of settlers from 
unpurchased lands* •••French encroachments^*^*Indian ex- 
penses — Dispute with the proprietaries****Death of John 
Kinsey*^^ •Benjamin Franklin member of assembly****Penn- 
sylvania hospital — French proceedings on the Ohio****As- 
sembly refer their consideration to the governor of New 
York* •••Paper currency^*^ •Imports and exports of Pennsyl- 
vania^-^ -Disputes between the governor and assembly on the 
money bills- •••Washington's journey to Venango — Instruc- 
tions of the British ministry to the colonies — Conference 
with the Six nations at Albany* •••Lands purchased — Con- 
federacy of the colonies proposed* -"Its fate*** -Subterfuge 
of the assembly to avoid military appropriations* ••Advance 
and defeat of colonel Washington****French remarks on his 
attack of Jumonville***-The governor attempts in vain to 
obtain funds from the assembly- •••Resigns* •••Character of 
his administration^^^^Laws enacted. 

On the departure of governor Thomas, the government de- 
volved on the council, of which Anthony Palmer was elected 
president. Deprived by law of legislative power, his duties 
were limited to the supervision of the affairs of the province, 
and the recommendation of such measures to the assembly as 
required pecuniary aid. 

The unprotected state of the Delaware bay attracting the 
enemy's privateers, they captured many vessels; and, some- 
times, ascending the river almost to Newcastle, their crews 
landed and plundered the inhabitants; and, contemning the 
peaceable disposition of the assembly, their commanders 



256 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1747 

threatened to assail the city itself. The assembly was urged 
in vain to adopt defensive measures. Resolute to maintain 
their principles, they extenuated the injuries done by the 
enemy, reiterated their own inability to defend the bay and 
river, and affected to rely upon the protection of the crown, 
of whose aid they feared to be deprived by demonstrations of 
their own power. 

The propriety of even a defensive war greatly agitated 
and divided the people. The Quakers, the Moravians, Mene- 
nists, and Shwcnckfelders, earnestly required the people to 
submit themselves entirely to the dispensations of the Deity, 
in whose hands they were; wliilst the episcopalians, baptists, 
and presbyterians, as zealously advocated the necessity of 
en)ploying those means of defence with which the Deity had 
already provided them. Both parties, the bellicose and anti- 
bellicose resorted to the press, which teemed with pamphlets 
in German and English on this subject. The clergymen from 
their pulpits taught the lawfulness of war, and excited the 
people to arm. Among the ministers, (shall we say of peace ?) 
Mr. Gilbert Tennent was most distinguished for his zeal, 
learning, and industry. In three long sermons, from Ezra, 
XV. 5, " The Lord is a man of tvar,'^ he sought to demon- 
strate, that war is approved by God, and discriminated such 
as received his approbation.* 

To the danger of Indian hostility, the house continued 
highly sensible. Resisting every attempt to engage the sa- 
vages in war, they endeavoured to render them impervious 
to French influence, by providing them with such necessa- 
ries as would render them content at home. It was no easy 
task to keep them at peace : they had to resist, not only the 
impetuosity of their youthful warriors, but the continued ef- 
forts of the New York and Massachusetts governors, who 
had wrung a reluctant assent from the elder chiefs of the Six 
nations to combat in the Canada expedition, from which they 
were deterred by evil omens, by the small-pox, and an epi- 
demic fever, which made great ravages among them.t The 

• Pamplileti, f MS. letter of Weiser to li. Peter. 



1747] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 257 

Indians were well disposed to make the most of the fears of 
tlieir good friends, the whites; and, by continual suggestions 
of their inability long to resist the French, who endeavoured 
to intimidate tliem by threats, and to seduce them by pro- 
mises, they gave occasions for new conferences, which were 
always accompanied by presents. Distant and vagrant tribes, 
also, sent tlieir ambassadors, proffering their friendsliip and 
soliciting the bounty of the province. 

Some Indians, on the banks of the Ohio, connected with 
the Six nations, visited Philadelphia, to tender their homage, 
and to invite the province to send commissioners to a council 
fire, at which the neighbouring nations were to be present. 
Impressed with the importance of such a conference, the 
council invited the governments of Maryland and Virginia to 
send their agents, and to unite in preparing a suitable present. 
On the part of Pennsylvania, goods were provided to the 
value of one thousand pounds, and Conrad Wciser was select- 
ed as envoy. The instructions given to him display pretty 
fully the provincial policy at tliis time. He was charged to 
obtain a perfect knowledge of the numbers, situation, disposi- 
tion, and strength of the Indians of the vicinity, whether 
friends, neutrals, or enemies; what reliance might be placed 
upon them to protect the province against th.e French; to 
learn the designs of the latter; to state the king's inten- 
tion to send a large present, to be distributed at Albany, 
and that a fear lest their distance from that place, should pre- 
vent their receipt of a proper share of the king's beneficence, 
had partly formed the inducement of the present mission and 
donation. He was to represent in the strongest light the 
friendship and ability to assist them, which the English, 
especially the inhabitants of Pennsylvania, had ever shown; 
to expatiate on the ancient hostility of the French against 
the Indian nations, established by some recent instances, 
in Canada, of cruellies against Indian captives. But as the 
disposition of the assembly with regard to war was well 
known, and as Ihej'' only could dispose of the public funds, he 
was not to urge the savages to hostilities, unless in defence of 
themselves ; yet he was to take care that his exhortations to 
33 



258 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l748 

peace should not cool Iheir affections towards the English ; 
but if he found them eager to become parties to the war, he 
was to refer them to the governors of New York and Massa- 
chusetts, to whom the conduct of the war had been confided. 
And lastly, he was instructed to inform them, that though 
the preliminaries of a general peace had been signed, yet the 
province had not forborne to send them a ricii present.* 

During this year, another treaty was made with the 
Twightees, a nation residing upon the Wabash ; their chiefs 
representing twelve towns, which were desirous to enter into 
the provincial alliance. 

The treaty of peace of Aix-la-Chapelle was not actually 
signed till the first day of October. It is not within the scope 
of this work to examine critically all the articles of this 
treaty, which did not increase the diplomatic honours of the 
mother country. We may, however, be permitted to ob- 
serve, that the great object of the war was totally lost sight 
of; as the right of the British to navigate the American 
seas free from search, was altogether unnoticed. The island 
of Cape Breton, with Louisburg, its capital, so dearl}'^ pur- 
chased by provincial blood and treasure, was given up; 
and the Americans had great cause to condemn the indiffer- 
ence or ignorance which exposed them to future vexation 
and renewed hostilities, by neglecting to ascertain the boun- 
daries of the French and English territories on the American 
continent. 

The council and assembly, though mutually dissatisfied, 
had exhibited much forbearance towards each other. But 
when the executive duties of the former were about to ter- 
minate, tliey appealed to the public for its approbation of 
measures which they had recommended, but which thehouse 
had negatived. In this appeal they animadverted with much 
asperity on the refusal of tlie assembly to fit out a sloop of 
war, and provide for the general defence. That body made 
a long reply, rebuking the council severely, and charged 
them with perversion and calumny. A verbose and lengthen- 

* Minutes of council. Votes, 



1749J HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 259 

ed quarrel was prevented, by council prudently declining to 
consider tlie reply of the house. 

In the month of May, the city and the counties on the De- 
laware were thrown in great consternation by the arrival of a 
Spanish privateer, of fourteen guns. Mr. Palmer endeavoured 
to prevail on captain Ballet, of the king's sloop of war the 
Otter, then lying in port, to seek the enemy, but this vessel 
being unfit for sea, the captain refused to weigh anchor. 
Batteries were erected to defend the city, and Mr. Kinsey, 
speaker of the assembly, assured council of the disposition of 
the assembly to provide for such expenses as might be in- 
curred for defence, though the expense might happen in such 
an instance as the assembly would not have advised. But 
these assurances did not give sufficient confidence to monied 
men, and council were unable to borrow the necessary sum 
to fit out a vessel to attack the enemy. The privateer ap- 
proached sufficiently near to Newcastle to exchange a few 
shots with the town, and having remained in the bay several 
days, quietly got to sea.* 

On the twenty-third of November, James Hamilton, son 
of Andrew Hamilton, returned from Europe, bearing the 
commission of lieutenant-governor. 

The progress of the white population towards the west 
continued to alarm and irritate the Indians. The new settlers, 
impatient of the delays of the land office, or unable or unwill- 
ing to pay for their lands, or in search of richer soils, sought 
homes in districts to which the Indian title had not been ex- 
tinguished. The intruders, consisting chiefly of Irish and 
Germans, seated themselves on the west of the Susquehan- 
nah, on the Juniata river, and its tributary streams, in the 
Tuscarora valley, in the greater and less coves formed by 
the Kiltochtinny and the Tuscarora hills, and at the Big and 
Little ConnoUoways. These settlements were commenced 
in 1740, and rapidly increased in despite of the cbm- 
plai^its of the Indians, the laws of the province, and the 
proclamations of the governor. The Six nations having con- 
sulted in council on this subject, sent a grand deputation from 

* Minutes of council. 



260 HISTORY OF PENXSYLVANIA. [l750 

every tribe to Philadelphia, to present their remonstrances. 
The Senecas arrived first, and having- been attentively heard, 
were dismissed, with a present of one hundred pounds, and 
with instructions, should they meet their compatriots, to re- 
port what they had done, and to persuade them to return. 
But the Senecas either did not meet the other deputies, or 
were unable to change their determination. They arrived 
soon after in the city, and after a short conference, were dis- 
missed with a present of five hundred pounds. Upon their 
return, the effect of the rival attentions of the Europeans was 
plainly visible upon the Indians. Their respect for the 
whites was much diminished, and their conduct was marked 
with wantonness and insolence. They killed the cattle of the 
inhabitants as tiiey passed, and mischievously wasted their 
orchards. Even the property of Conrad Weiser, who was 
personally known to, and esteemed by, them, was not re- 
spected by the Tortuloes;,who were,on his complaints, driven 
off by the Seneca chiefs.* The depredations they committed 
along their route were repaired by the assembly, that the 
people, satisfied with their indemnity, might bear more pa- 
tiently the insolence of their visiters. 

The threats of the Indians to do themselves that iustice 
they despaired to receive from the government, produced 
prompt and decisive measures. The secretary of the province, 
Mr. Richard Peters, and the interpreter, Mr. Weiser, were 
directed to proceed to the county of Cumberland, in which 
the new settlements lay, and to expel the intruders. They 
were joined by the magistrates of the county, the delegates 
from the Six nations, a chief of the Mohawks, and Andrew 
Montour, an interpreter from the Ohio. The commissioners 
met with little resistance in the execution of their duty, a few 
only of the settlers, under an aj)prehension of imprisonment, 
making a show of opposition. All readily entered into recog- 
nisance for their appearance at the next sessions, and many 
aided to reduce their own habitations to ashes in the presence of 
the magistrates and attendant Indians. Mr. Peters displayed 
on this occasion great prudence and humanity. To the needy 

• C. AV. Lett. 16lh Julv, 1749. 



1750]] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 261 

he gave money, and proffered an asylum on farms of his own; 
and to all he granted permission to establish themselves on a 
tract of two millions of acres, purchased from ihe Indians on 
the east side of the Susquehannah, in the preceding year, 
for the proprietaries. But, notwitlistanding this evidence of 
the resolution of the government, and the determination of the 
Indians, new offence was given to the latter, by new encroach- 
ments, within a few months. 

The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which in Europe was only 
a hollow truce, was scarce regarded by the French in Ame- 
rica. Eager to extend their territories, and to connect their 
northern possessions with Louisiana, they had projected a 
line efforts and military' positions from the one to the other, 
along the Mississippi and Ohio, and had commenced their 
erection at either end. They explored and occupied the land 
upon the Ohio, buried in many places through the country 
metal plates, with inscriptions declaratory of their claims to 
the river Ohio, and the lands adjacent to it, and its tributary 
streams. (1) They continued their threats and caresses to- 
wards the Indians, scattering liberal presents among them, 
and making preparations to compel by force what their kind- 
ness might not effect. 

The enterprise, industry, and perseverance, of the French, 
were strongly contrasted with the coldness and apathy of the 
English, in their Indian relations. After the close of the 
%var, in 1748, the constituted authorities of New York dis- 
continued their attentions, even to those Indians they had 
prevailed on to take arms. They suffered the captives long 
to remain unransomed, and their families to pine in want, 
and utterly disregarded the children of the slain. Whilst 
the French, attentive to the vanity and interests of their 
allies, dressed them in finery, and loaded them with presents. 
Had they not endeavoured to convert them to the catholic 
faith, their influence would have been more efficient. For 
the Indians fancied that the religious ceremonies to which 
they were subjected, were arts to reduce them to slavery; 

(1) See Note M 2, Appendix. 



262 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1750 

and, though some professccl to believe, whilst their teachers 
were present, they scofTed at the doctrine when returned to 
their own firesides.* The FVench had, by this policy, suc- 
ceeded in estranging the Indians on the Ohio, and in dividing 
the councils of the Six nations, drawing off the Onondagoes, 
Cayugas, and Senecas. Their progress with these tiibes was 
rendered still more dangerous, by the death of several chiefs 
who had been in the English interest.! 

On being advised by governor Hamilton of the French 
efforts, the assembly of Pennsylvania resorted to their usual 
mode of negotiation. Presents of condolence were prepared 
for the Six nations, on the death of their chiefs, and a large 
donation was forwarded to the Twightees, Shavvnees, Dela- 
wares, and Oundats. 

But the preservation of peace with the Indians having be- 
come extremely burdensome to the provincial treasury, the 
assembly required that the proprietaries should contribute to 
the payment of Indian expenses, as they were deeply and spe- 
cially interested in keeping their back lands in the market, 
besides having a common interest in the general prosperity 
of the province. The refusal of the proprietaries to bear 
any portion of this burden must be ascribed to the most ab- 
solute selfishness. Almost every public treaty was followed 
by a bargain for lands; and, though the presents of the pro- 
vince were no part of the nominal price, yet it is easy to un- 
derstand that they made a part of the actual consideration. 
The public donations allured the Indians to the conference, 
and qualified the terms of the proprietary bargains, and they 
tended to preserve the quiet of the border, and to push the 
settlers safely forward. 

Previous to the year 1722, the Indian expenses had been 
inconsiderable, being limited, by law, to fifty pounds per 
annum. In that year, the expenses of governor Keith, at 
Albany, were paid by the assembly. But, in 1727, they re- 
fused to pay more than half the amount of an account of 
Conrad Weiser. In 1728, under an extraordinary alarm, the 
assembly, for the first time, undertook to pay, without limi- 

* MS. Journals ot'C. Weiser. f Votes. 



1750] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 263 

tation, the expenses of an Indian conference. Subsequently, 
similar charges were paid, sometimes in full, without objec- 
tion, at other times by the half only. The sum now ex- 
pended by the province exceeded eight thousand pounds, and 
the appetite for presents, which the Indians had acquired, was 
not easily to be satiated. 

The proprietaries denied the justice of requiring from them 
any contribution towards the public exj)ense, even though 
the people were taxed for the charges of government; and, 
as not a shilling was levied, there was less reason to ask any 
thing from them. "They had charged themselves, gratuitously," 
tliey said, "with much more than was due to the public inter- 
preter, for his services in land treaties, and now maintained 
his son with a tutor in the Indian country, to learn their lan- 
guage and customs, for the service of the province, and they 
had expended much for the public service, both in Europe 
and America. All which being considered, and that they 
purchase lands from the Indians, and pay for them, and 
are under no greater obligation to contribute to the public 
charge than any other chief governor of a colony, they would 
have been pleased to have been saved the necessity of a dis- 
agreeable answer to an application on the subject." There is 
not much force in these arguments. If the people paid no 
tax for the support of government, it could not be pretended 
that the proprietary was at this charge. But the revenue 
was certainly derived from the people. The excise was a 
lax in form, and the interest upon the public loans was paid 
by the labours of the borrowers. Whatever may have been 
the sums paid by the proprietors to their interpreter, the pro- 
vince was not thereby relieved from similar charges. The 
attempt of the proprietors to assimilate themselves to other 
colonial governors, as an argument, was still more feeble. If 
other colonial chief governors had such interests as they pos- 
sessed in the soil of their colonies, if they derived a daily in- 
creasing revenue from the sale of unsettled lands, if they 
were proprietaries, they would have like duties to fulfil. But 
if they were simply political agents, there was no parallel in 
their situations. For these reasons, the assembly persisted 



264 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1750 

in assertin-g their claim upon them for contribution towards 
Indian expenses. 

The remonstrance of the assembly was sent to the pro- 
prietaries in August, 1751, but was not answered until May, 
1753. The answer was feeble, but haughty, selfish, and dis- 
respectful. They affected to consider the address as founded 
in the wish of the assembly to obtain favour with the people, 
and charged the house with having published it with that 
view on the eve of the election. " It therefore became their 
duty," they said, 'Ho inform the people, through their re- 
presentatives, that, as the consent of the proprietaries was 
necessary to their laws, the assembly would promote the 
welfare of their constituents by a due regard to the proprieta- 
ries, and their interests, for they should expect from the re- 
presentatives of the people the respect due to the rank the 
crown had given them in Pennsylvania.* They regretted the 
necessity they were under to expose the state of the provin- 
cial revenue, since it would appear that six thousand pounds 
per annum were received, double the amount necessary for 
the expenses of the government, including the average 
sum paid for Indian expenses during the last twenty years. 
This sum could not be considered great, when compar- 
ed with the benefits accruing to Great Britain from the 
Indian alliance, nor was it more than their family had paid in 
duties and excise during that time for the support of his 
majesty's government." They remarked in answer " to the 
unadvised statement of the assembly, that the family estate 
in America was exempt from the burdens borne by their fel- 
low subjects in Great Britain, that it was impolitic to remind 
the people of England of that exemption; since it had already 
been proposed to tax North America; and the act of parlia- 
ment, which taxed the proprietary estates, would reach those 
of the members of assembly, and their constituents." Tiiey 
refused to pa)- any specific portion of the public expense, but 
averred, that on a fair estimate of such burthens, and of the 
estates of themselves, and the inhabitants, it would be dis- 

• The address of the assembly was informal in its style, at which the pro- 
prietaries took offence. T. Penn's letter to governor Hamilton. 



1750 J HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 265 

covered that they had voluntarily paid more than their quota; 
in addition to which^ Thomas Penn had sent four hundred 
pounds sterling in cannon for the defence of their city of 
Philadelphia. They declared that the assembly, if disposed, 
might relieve the people of one-half the excise, as the interest 
on the paper currency was sufficient to maintain the govern- 
ment, and that might now be increased by a new emission, 
required by the increased commerce; and for which they had 
given instructions to the governor. That, as the representa- 
tives were chosen annually, they might now be addressing 
other persons than those who had applied to them; but their 
answer was to the assembly. Those who had pressed tin's 
matter might have given place to others, more prudent; but 
at all events, they desired that the house, in any matter of the 
like nature, would be content with such answer as the gover- 
nor was instructed to give them. 

The authors of the Modern Universal History have said, 
that this answer was so conclusive, that the assembly, unable 
to reply to it, had ordered it, with all the introductory papers, 
to be laid upon their table ; but they did reply to it, and how 
well the reader may determine. They admitted that the 
people were able to pay, but denied this to be a reason why 
they should pay unjustly. The proprietaries also were able 
to pay, yet that ability did not induce them to contribute a 
just proportion of the expenses. They denied that their 
application had been made with an electioneering design; 
such a measure was unnecessary, since, for many years, there 
had not been any contest between the proprietary and popular 
interests ; nor had the first any formidable share of the peo- 
ple's affection ; nor could the address of the assembly have 
been intended for the people, since it was not even nowpub- 
lished, nor were the resolutions of the assembly relating to it 
published until after the election ; nor did a seat in the assem- 
bly offer any inducement for the exercise of artifice to obtain 
it. But their chief governors had intimated in plain terms their 
disposition to make advantage of their place, and to require 
from the people a pecuniary consideration for facilitating the 
passage of the colonial laws, though their deputy was, and 
34 



266 nisTOUV of vennsylvania. [1750 

ought (o be, empowered to sanction all necessary bills. If 
such corruption existed, it must be discontinued, and they 
would rely upon the goodness of their sovereign for the final 
confirmation of their laws, and not go to market for them to 
a subject. The proprietaries' notice of matters relating to 
their interests was easily comprehended; but their reasons 
for reminding the people of their dignity were not so obvious. 
Had they been treated unsuitably to their rank ? The re- 
monstrance had been made to themselves, and was never 
published. It had been transmitted through the governor, 
and indicated the true interests of the proprietaries, which 
consisted in securing the affections of the people by just, 
equitable, and generous measures. The assembly too had a 
rank from the crown, which they held not by hereditary 
succession, but by the voluntary, unbribed, unsolicited choice 
of a free people. The regrets of the proprietaries in pro- 
claiming the state of the provincial treasury were needless, 
and strange, since for thirty years past, the public accounts 
had been annually settled, and published by (he assembly, 
and since there could be no cause of concealment of the pro- 
vincial revenue, whatever reasons the proprietaries might have 
to conceal their own. The average of the Indian expenses 
on the last twenty years was unfair, since they were a grow- 
ing charge, and had, during the last four years, exceeded 
twelve hundred pounds per annum; but, had the sum been 
small, that did not affect the justice of the case, and the pro- 
prietary portion would have been less considerable. The 
people of Pennsylvania also paid duty and excise for the 
support of his majesty's government, and other taxes, which, 
in proportion to their means, were equal to those paid by the 
proprietary family, or any subject of England; paying as 
much as an infant colony could bear, they believed the jus- 
tice of an English parliament would never burthen them 
more The exemption of the proprietary estate from colonial 
taxation had never been made public until now, and was used 
only as a private motive to themselves. If the proprietaries 
were, as they declared, ready to contribute to any public ex- 
pense proper lo be charged upon them, and the sums thej 



1750] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 267 

now jiait! voluntarily were greater than their due proportion, 
it was a matter of surprise, that they should decline an ar- 
rangement, which would save them money, and preserve 
harmony between them and the people. They repelled in- 
dignantly the charge of having neglected to defend the pro- 
j^rietaries' city of Philadelphia; for, though their principles 
forbade them to provide cannon, they had appropriated large 
sums to his majesty's use; and though the defence of the city 
was more the interest, they would not say duty, of the pro- 
prietaries than of any one else, they had not only neglected, 
but had discouraged, the providing of cannon, and suflered 
the city and country to be put in a state of defence by the 
liberality of private individuals, and their boasted assistance 
of ordinance, like Venetian succours, came after the war was 
over. The reduction of the excise was proposed with the 
design charged upon the assembly, to amuse the weaker sort 
of people;* for if the proprie-taries were disposed to favour 
the intemperate use of spirituous liquors, they might effect 
their object by abating half the license fees. The last pai-a- 
graph of the proprietaries' answer was totally inconsistent 
with the expression of their wishes for harmony between 
themselves and the people. To forbid an appeal from the 
deputy-governor to las principals was unheard of. No king 
of England had ever taken upon himself such state, as to re- 
ject the personal application of his meanest subject, when 
aggrieved by his officers. Even sultans, sophys, and other 
eastern absolute monarchs, would sometimes sit whole days 
to hear the complaints and petitions of their very slaves; and 
were the proprietaries of Pennsylvania become too great to 
be addressed by the representatives of the freemen of their 

• Hem acu ieiigit. — By a letter from Thomas Penn to governor Hamilton, 
Oct. 26, 1752, the former, who principally managed the concerns of the 
family, says, '• We have therefore drawn up this, (answer to assembly's 
remonstrance,) to open their (the people's) eyes, to make them sec what 
the house so violently pressed was only a matter of very small importance, 
and at the same iimc proposed a reduction of the excise, as a measure very 
agreeable to those that pay it, and ivhich will, if the people insist they shall 
carry it into execution, lessen their power if opposition to the principal 
fchcme. 



/' 



268 HISTOllY OF PEN>rSYLVANIA. [l750 

province? If they must not be reasoned with, because they 
had given instructions, nor their deputies, because they had 
received them, the deliberations of the assembly were useless, 
they had only to learn and obey the will of the proprietaries. 
In conclusion, the}' said, "if tlie province must be at more than 
two thousand pounds expense per annum for a deputy-go- 
vernor, having no discretion to pass laws, as was intimated 
in the proprietaries' answer, and must obtain the assent of the 
chief governor, at mere than three thousand miles distance, 
often ignorant or misinformed of its affairs, with ears peremp- 
torily closed by having given instructions to their deputies, 
it would be better the colony should be under the immediate 
care of the crown; and a sincere regard for the memory of 
the first proprietary, made them apprehend for his children, 
that, if they followed the advice of Rehoboam's counsellors, 
they would, like him, absolutely lose at least the affec- 
tions of the people; a loss which, however they might affect to 
despise, they would find of more consequence than they now 
seemed to apprehend." 

This address of the assembly was prepared by Benjamin 
Franklin, who, on the death of William Clymer, was elected 
this year a member of the house from the city. He had been 
appointed, on his petition, clerk of the house, in 1736, in 
the place of Joseph Growden; had been annually re-appointed 
since, and held that office when elected a member of the 
house. His active, comprehensive, and discriminating mind 
qualified him at all times to lead in a popular body; but his 
knowledge of provincial affairs at once placed him at the head 
of the assembl}'^, and caused him to be appointed upon every 
important committee.* 

In the month of May, John Kinsey, speaker of the assem- 
bly, died at Burlington, New Jersej'-, of an apoplectic fit. 
He was an eminent lawyer: had been many years a member 
and s^peaker of the assembly of New Jersey. He removed 
to Philadelphia in 1730, and had been speaker of the Penn- 

• He was succeeded in his office of clerk hj his son, William, who re- 
signed it in \75T, to accompany liis father to Europe. He was succeeded 
by Thomas Moore. 



1751] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 269 

sylvania assembly for the last ten, and chief justice for the 
last seven years of his life. He was distinguished, as a law- 
yer, for experience, ability, integritj^^ and success; and, as a 
member of the society of Quakers, for his kindness and social 
virtues. He has left some valuable notes on repealed statutes 
relating to descents, in Pennsylvania. Isaac Norris suc- 
ceeded him as speaker, and William Allen as chief justice. 

In February, the assembly having failed to make a quorum 
on the day to which it stood adjourned, the governor, after 
the example of some of his predecessors, revived the ques- 
tion relative to the power of the members to adjourn. But 
the house, having searched their minutes, found so many in- 
stances in which it had been exercised, that he deemed it ex- 
pedient quietly to abandon his pretensions to control it, which 
he did, in a message, simply declaring the house to be re- 
stored to its privileges, and his readiness to proceed with them 
in the labours of legislation. 

Several cases of lunacy, in subjects unable from poverty 
to support themselves, gave rise to an association for esta- 
blishing a hospital for the reception of lunatics, and, sub- 
sequently, to the Pennsylvania hospital; a noble monument 
of the humanity and munificence of the province. Two 
thousand pounds were subscribed by individuals, and a like 
sum given by the assembly. The charity became popu- 
lar, and was aided by contributions in various ways, so that 
it was immediately and extensively useful; relief being granted 
to sixty-seven patients in the first year. The contributors 
were erected into a body corporate, and empowered to elect 
annually twelve managers, to whose care the institution was 
confided, subject to a supervision of a committee of the as- 
sembly, appointed at its discretion, and which for many years 
made an annual report of the proceedings and of the funds 
of the hospital. In 1754 the contributors purchased part of 
a city square of ground, upon which they erected the neces- 
sary buildings, on a plan that would admit of symmetrical 
additions; and, soon after, the proprietaries presented them 
with the remainder of the square. 



270 .HISTORY Of riCNNSYLVANlA. [1752 

On tlic thirly-first of October of this year, died James" 
Logan, at the advanced age of eighty-seven years. He was 
born at Lurgan, in Ireland, and removed to Pennsylvania 
with William Penn, in the 5^ear 1699. In 1701 he was ap- 
pointed clerk of the council, and secretary of the province. 
He was, subsequently, commissioner of property, chief jus- 
tice, and president of the council. He possessed great learn- 
ing, and distinguished abilities; was conversant with the 
oriental tongues, familiar with the Greek, Latin, French, and 
Italian languages, and skilled in mathematics, and in natural 
and moral philosophy. He enjoyed, during life, the confi- 
dence of the proprietary family, which he repaid, by the most 
earnest endeavours to support their interests in the province, 
sacrificing to them, occasionally, the place in the affections of 
the people, which his excellent character and cultivated ta- 
lents must necessarily have procured for him. He professed 
the religious principles of the Quakers, but was free from 
enthusiasm or bigotry. The city of Philadelphia is indebted 
to his munificence for a very valuable and extensive classical 
library, which he had been fifty years in collecting, contain- 
ing the best editions of the best books, in various languages, 
arts, and sciences. 

In their prosecution of their views of territorial acquisi- 
tion, and of disuniting the Indians from the English, the 
French attacked the Twightees, with intention to punish them 
for their adherence to the English, and their protection of 
English traders. Fourteen of this tribe were killed. The 
Ohio company having surveyed large tracts of land upon the 
Ohio, with a view to settlement, the governor of Canada re- 
monstrated with the governors of New York and Pennsyl- 
vania, upon what he considered an invasion of the French 
territories, and threatened to employ force, unless the English 
traders desisted from their intercourse with the Indians. This 
threat being disregarded, he captured some English traders, 
and sent them to France, whence they returned without re- 
dress. He also opened a communication from Presqu' isle, 
by French creek and the Alleghany river, to the Ohio. The 
design of his military preparations was communicated to the 



1752] TltSTOKY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 27 1 

Six nations, who forbade him to occupy the Ohio lands, or to 
disturb the English traders; but the French contemned the 
present weakness of these tribes. To protect such traders as 
had not been captured, governor Hamilton despatched mes- 
sengers with tidings of the French movements; and, in ex- 
pectation that the Six nations and western Indians would 
require his aid, he earnestly exhorted the assembly to provide 
him with means to assist them effectually; and to prevent the 
consequences that must result from the neighbourhood of 
the French and Indians under their control. 

The assembly, as usual, voted money freely, for presents 
to the Indians, but referred the consideration of all subjects 
arising out of the treaty of Great Britain with the Six na- 
tions to governor Clinton, of New York, to whom they more 
properly belonged; and refused, at the request of the In- 
dians, to build trading-houses or forts on the frontiers, al- 
though the proprietaries offered to contribute largely to this 
object; assigning, as a reason for this unwise policy, their 
conviction, that presents were the best means of securing the 
friendship of the Indians, and the safety of the province.* 

The increased commerce of the colony requiring an ex- 
tension of the paper currency, a bill for this purpose was pre- 
pared in 1748, but was postponed, on account of an attempt 
made in parliament, to restrain all the American colonies 
from issuing bills as a circulating medium. An inquiry was 
instituted into the paper currency of the several colonies; 
and such was the effect of the statement prepared for Penn- 
sylvania, and the exertions of her agents and of the proprie- 
taries in London, that she was not included in the bill passed 
twenty-Mflh of June, 1751, prohibiting the northern colonies, 
from creating or re-emitting bills of credit, except on extra- 
ordinary emergencies. Thus encouraged, the assembly, early 
in 1752, prepared a bill for striking forty thousand pounds. 
But the governor objecting to the amount, it was reduced to 
twenty thousand; yet he still refused his sanction, in ac- 
cordance with the instructions of the proprietaries, from a 

* Votes. Letters of T. Penn to governor Hamilton. Penn's Hist. So- 
ciety's collection. 



272 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1745 

fear, as he alleged, of offending the government at home, 
which had so lately disapproved of this species of paper. 
The bill being returned to the house, they appointed a com- 
mittee to consider and report upon their currenc3\* 

The committee, of which Franklin was chairman, took a 
comprehensive view of the effects of the paper currency. 
They demonstrated, that, by its aid, the commerce, popula- 
tion, and internal improvements of the country, had greatly 
increased; that, in 172S, the number of vessels cleared from 
the port of Philadelphia were but eighty-five; in 1730, they 
amounted to one hundred and seventy-one; in 1735, to two 
hundred and twelve; and that from 1749 to 1752, they ave- 
raged four hundred and three, per annum. That the popu- 
lation had nearly doubled itself in twenty years; and that 
the importation of the manufactures of the mother country, 
had increased proportionally with the shipping-list. The im- 
ports from England, exclusive of those from Scotland and 
Ireland, were, in 

1723, £15,992 19 4, sterling. 

1730, 48,592 7 5 

1737, 56,960 6 7 

1742, 75,295 3 4 

1747, 82,404 17 7 

1749, 191,833 6 

1750, 156,945 7 10 
I751,t 129,503 17 1 

The views of their internal prosperity was not less favourable. 

• Votes. Hamilton MSS. Col. Penn. Hist. Soc. 

+ The exports from Pennsylvania, of wheat, flour, bread, and flax-seed, 
were, in 

1729, £62,473 14 3 

1730, 57,499 19 

1731, 62,582 1 

1749, . 148,104 4 11 

1750, 155,174 19 6 * 

1751, 187,457 11 1 

Thus, in twenty -three years, the surplus produce had been trebled; whilst 



17523 HISTORY OV PENNSYLVANIA. 273 

The Indian trade had been extended far to tlie west, em- 
bracing many new and strange nations. Agricultural improve- 
ments were very rapidly made; the people being enabled 
to purchase lands by the aid of the loan-office — that happy con- 
trivance in the money laws, by which the yearly quotas were 
re-emitted to other borrowers, spread the benefits of the sys- 
tem more widely, and lessened the necessity of additional 
issues. "Yet, great as these benefits were," the committee 
continued, ''they might have been much greater, had this 
easy method for the purchase and improvement of lands kept 
pace, as it ought to have done, with the growing numbers of the 
people. For, during many years, the borrowers were not only 
compelled to be content with small sums, but many, who could 
give ample security, were delayed and disappointed. Even 
at this time, though application, by failure of success, had 
been greatly discouraged, there were not less than one thou- 
sand on the list, waiting their turn to be supplied. It was 
true, one inconvenience had resulted from this state of things; 
the price of labour was kept up, by the labourers becoming 
employers; and, though thirty thousand labourers had been 
imported within twenty years, the price of labour had not 
diminished; yet this evil was more than balanced, by the in- 
creased value of lands, and the addition to the consumers of 
English manufactures." 

tlie quantity consumed was fully doubled. In 1729, there were exported 

35,438 barrels of flour, cost £00 21 per cask. 

4,067 tierces of bread 2 .9 per tierce. 

5,459 barrels do. 00 14 per barrel. 

264 quarter casks do. 00 5 per cask. 

74,800 bushels of wheat 00 3 6 per bushel. 
In 1751, 

108,695 barrels of flour, 1 2 9 per b.arrel. 

769 tierces of bread, 2 2 2 per tierce. 

27,054 barrels do. 14 6 per barrel. 

7,826 quarter-casks do. 5 1 per cask. 

282 tons do. 12 6 per cwt. 

76,870 bushels of wheat, 3 10 per bushel. 

9,895 hogsheads of flaxseed, 2 5 per hogshead, 

62 barrels do. 12 6 per barrel. 

y5 



274 iiisroiiY OF Pennsylvania. [175S 

Still the governor hesitated to sign any money bill; yet, 
early in 1753, he consented to pass a law, with a rider, sus- 
pending its operation until it received the royal approbation. 
This clause he added pursuant to the instructions from the 
kina: to governor Thomas in 1740, and with a belief that the 
house would reject it; nor was he disappointed. They pre- 
ferred to lose the bill rather than introduce a precedent in- 
jurious to their own and the proprietary rights under the 
charter. But the governor's refusal was followed by several 
long and angry messages between himself and the house, by 
which the cordiality hitherto distinguishing his administra- 
tion was much endangered. 

In the following year the governor proposed to assent to 
an act for issuing forty thousand pounds in bills of credit, on 
condition that funds should be provided for their redemption 
within a reasonable time. The house sent him a bill for 
issuing thirty thousand pounds, redeemable by an extension 
of the excise for ten years. This term he considered too long, 
and in answer to a taunting and irritating message, mildly 
stated tb.is and other objections. *'He had been forced," he 
said, " to abandon, with great reluctance, the clause suspending 
the operations of money bills until they received the king's 
approbation, by the approaching hostilities with the French, 
and the pertinacity of the house. The provincial treasury 
was now rich enough to furnish the sum of ten thousand 
pounds, the sum oflered to his majesty in the hill, yet he con- 
sented to extend the excise law for six yeais, a period longer 
than was requisite to pay that sum. In the extension of this 
law, for ten years, he discovered a design in the legislature to 
become entirely independentof the governor, as by the laws 
in force the public money was solely at the disposition of the 
assembly. When tlie excise laws were passed for a short 
period, as for five years, the governor had it in his power to 
oblige the assembly in an essential manner, and thereby to 
render himself agreeable to them, and retain his influence 
over them; whilst a greater extension of these acts would 
render him unnecessary during their continuance. To this 
condition he determined not to reduce his successor." 



1753] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 275 

In answer, the house voted, that the excise did not, one 
year with another, produce more than was required for the 
public expenses; that the excise was more easily paid, and 
more cheerfully borne, than the poll and pound rates; and 
that if its whole proceeds should be appropriated to the re- 
demption of the new issue of bills of credit, recourse must be 
had to these odious taxes. That if there was due to the trea- 
sury so large a sum as they had voted to the crown, which 
was very uncertain, its sudden collection would distress the 
public debtors; that the right to judge not only of the sum 
necessarx'^ for the public service, but of the time and manner 
of raising it, and the term of payment, was solely in the re- 
presentatives of the people, and the governor had no right to 
interfere in any manner whatever therein; that a just, pru- 
dent, and upright administration was the most efiectual mode 
of obtaining and securing the affections of the people; and 
that it was neither necessary nor expedient to deny the pre- 
sent assembly the exercise of their just rights, that a futuie 
governor might have an opportunity of obliging a future as- 
sembly; that an act of parliament, made expressly to remedy 
disorders in the eastern governments, in which Pennsylvania 
was not embraced, could not by any construction bind her 
governors or assemblies; that in case of emergency the go- 
vernor was permitted to pass money bills without the sanc- 
tion of the crown, and that such was the present; and, 
therefore, if the governor were restricted by any instructions 
from giving his sanction to their bill, it was by such as he had 
not laid before the house, and not by such as he had himself 
efi'ectually invalidated.* 

The assembly had, with their usual sagacity, conjectured 
truly, that the governor was restricted by instructions he had 
not communicated to them. The proprietaries, in 17.'i2,had 
prohibited him from passing any money bill which did not 

* Tlie years 1753 and 1754 are remarkable in the annals of Pennsylvania, 
for two uUcmpts made by captain Swaine, in the schooner Argo, to discover 
a nortli-west passage, under liic auspices of sundry merchants in Pliiladel- 
phia, who fiberally subscribed for fitting out these expeditions. .Qrnerican 
Quarterly Review, 3 vol., Haz. Rcgider, 1 vol. 381. 



276 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l75> 

place the whole of Ihc interest at the disposition of them- 
selves or deputies. The governor kept this instruction secret, 
and remonstrated with Thomas Penn on its impolicy, in con- 
sequence of which the instruction was revoked, and he per- 
mitted to pass bills, by which the interest should be appro- 
priated by the assembly from time to time as heretofore; but 
by subsequent letters he was discouraged from acting upon 
the last instructions, and finally forbidden to pass any money 
bill which did not place the interest at the disposal of the 
governor and assembly, and was informed that his assent to 
any bill for further issues of paper, without the permission of 
the crown, would be at his peril.* 

Having adopted these resolutions, the house adjourned to 
the nineteenth of August, but was convened, by special 
summons, on the sixth of that month, in consequence of the 
defeat of col. Washington, on his march from Virginia to the 
frontiers. The dangers of the impending war produced new 
efforts on the part of the house to provide funds for the pub- 
lic service. A bill authorizing the issue of thirty-five thou- 
sand pounds paper, fifteen thousand of which to be appro- 
priated to the king's use, was sent up to the governor. But 
adhering to his former opinions, he refused to pass the bill 
without amendment, and referred the house to his successor, 
daily expected. 

In this dispute the assembly was right in principle; but 
though satisfied of Mr. Hamilton's desire to oblige them, 
they sullied their cause by the rude and caustic manner in 
which they addressed him. They held properly and tena- 
ciously to the clause of the royal charter, empowering them 
to enact laws without the royal assent, and maintained their 
exclusive right to originate and limit all money bills. It is 
highly probable that the reasons assigned by the governor 
were not the only, perhaps not the true ones of his conduct. 
The royal and proprietary instructions were frequently incon- 
sistent with the public welfare. The assembly had entire 
control of the public treasury, and the interest on every new 

* Hamilton MSS. Coll.rcnn. Hist. Soc. 



1754] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.* 277 

loan increased their strength, and lessened their dependence 
upon tiie governor, the proprietary, and the crown. It was 
politic, therefore, on the part of the administration, to dis- 
burse the accumulations of the treasury, and to mortgage the 
revenues for the redemption of the paper issues. But the 
public exigencies prevented a rigid adherence to this plan, 
and an absolute negative upon every money bill ; yet, amend- 
ments proposed by the governor were designed to keep the 
assembly dependent upon the executive, for the continuance 
of the excise law. 

Governor Dinwiddie having learned the intention of the 
French to proceed from Fort Vanango, on French creek, fur- 
ther southward, resolved to send a messenger to gain intelli- 
gence of their movements, and to remonstrate against their 
designs. For this purpose he selected Mr. George Washing- 
ton, then under twenty years of age. Mr. Washington left 
the frontiers on the fourteenth of November, 1753, perform- 
ing a journey over mountain and torrent, through morass and 
forest, braving the inclemency of winter, and the howling 
wilderness: he returned after an absence of two months, hav- 
ing escaped many dangers from Indian hostility, and the 
impracticability of the rivers, with the answer of Legardeau 
de St. Pierre, the French commandant upon the Ohio, dated 
at the fort on Le Beauf river. The Frenchrfian referred the 
discussion of the rights of the two countries to the Marquis du 
Quesne, governor-in-chief of Canada, by whose orders he had 
assumed, and meant to sustain his present position. From 
dc la Joncaire, a captain in the French service, and Indian 
interpreter, Washington received full information of the 
French designs. They derived their claim to the Ohio river, 
and its appurtenances, from the discovery of La Salle, sixty 
years before, and their present measures for its defence had 
arisen from the attempts of the Ohio company to occupy its 
hanks. 

The English government, having learned the designs and 
operations of the French in the American continent, remon- 
strated with the court of Versailles. Rut, whilst public in- 
structions were given fo the governor of Canada to refrain 



27*8 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l754 

from hostilities, to demolish the fortress erected at Niagara, 
to surrender the British prisoners in America, and to punish 
their captors, he was privately informed that strict obedience 
was not expected. Deceived and insulted, the English re- 
solved to oppose force with force: and the American go- 
vernors were instructed to repel the encroachments of any' 
foreign prince or state. 

The Anglo-American force was much greater than that of 
the French; but its division into many distinct sections, inde- 
pendent of each other, rendered combined efforts difficult and 
sluggish; whilst the French, directed by one will, had the 
advantages of union and promptitude; and drew the happiest 
hopes from the boldest enterprises. To resist them effectually, 
some confederacy of the colonies was necessary, and com- 
mon f^rudence required that the affections of the Indians to- 
wards the English should be assured. A conference with the 
Six nations, and therepresentativesof the colonies, was ordered 
by the ministry, at Albany, under the direction of governor de 
Lancey, ofNevv York.* The assembly of Fennsylvania,though 
disapproving of a joint negotiation, at the instance of governor 
Hamilton, consented to send a deputation to the congress. 
The governor, unable to attend himself, commissioned Messrs. 
John Penn,t and Richard Peters, of the council, and Frank- 
lin and Norris,*of the assembly. They carried with them 
five hundred pounds, the provincial present to the Indians. 

The Six nations, although large presents were made them, 
were cold to the instances of the confederated council. Few 
of them attended, and it was evident, that the affection of all 
towards the English had decreased. They refused to form a 
treaty of coalition against the French, but consented to aid 
in driving them from the positions they had assumed upon 



* Wash. .3ouin. Mod. I'lilv. Hist. 

f John Penii, tlic eldest son of Hichard Fenn, arrived in February, 1753. 
He was sent out by the proprietaries to reside a few years in tlie province, 
that he might obtain u knowledge of his affairs, whicii would qualify him 
for the place of depuly-governor. He was immediately made a coun.sellor, 
and, by unanimous vote of the board, placed at their head, and considered 
as the eldest counsellor. Hamilton MSS. 



1754] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 279 

tjieir lands, and to renew the former treaties with the Eng- 
lish.* 

After the public negotiations, the Pennsylvania commis- 
sioners, in consideration of four hundred pounds, purchased 
of the confederated nations a great part of the land in the 
province, to which the Indian title was not extinct, compre- 
hendins: the lands on which the Shavvanee and Ohio Indians 
dwelt, and the hunting-grounds of the Delawares, the Nanti- 
cokes, and Tuteloes. This sale proved highly dissatisfactory 
to these tribes, and was a great cause of their subsequent 
estrangement from the English. 

In the convention,! several plans for a political union of 
the colonies were submitted ; and that devised by Mr. Frank- 
lin was adopted on the fourth of July. The following were 
the outlines of the proposed constitution. The general go- 
vernment was to be administered by a president-general, to 
be appointed and supported by the crown: a grand council 
of forty-eight members was to be chosen for three years, by 
the colonial assemblies, to meet at Philadelphia for the first 
time, on the call of the president. After the first three years, 
the number of members was to be apportioned to the revenue 
paid into the public treasury by each colony: the grand coun- 
cil was to meet once a year, and might be called, in case of 
emergency, by the president: it had power to choose its 
speaker, and could not be dissolved, prorogued, nor kept to- 
gether longer than six weeks at one time, without its consent, 
or the special command of the crown : the assent of the presi- 
dent-general was requisite to all acts of the council, and it was 
made his duty to execute them: the council was to be empow- 
ered, with the president-general, to hold or direct all Indian 
treaties, in which the general interest of the colonies was 
concerned, and to make peace and declare war with Indian na- 
tions; to regulate Indian trade ; to purchase for the crown from 
the Indians, lands not within particular colonies; to make new 
settlements on such purchases, by granting lands in the king's 
name, reserving quit-rent to the crown for the use of the 

• Mod. Univ. Hist. f l^th June. 



280 HISTOUY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [17'54. 

general ti-easury; to make laws regulating and governing such 
new settlements, until they were formed into particular go- 
vernments: to raise soldiers, build forts, and equip vessels ot 
war; and, for these purposes, to make laws and levy taxes: 
to appoint a general treasurer, and a particular treasurer in 
each government: no monies to issue without an appropria- 
tion by law, or b}'" joint order of the president and council : the 
general accounts to be settled yearly, and reported to the se- 
veral assemblies : twenty-five members to form a quorum of 
the council, there being present one or more from a majority 
of the colonies: the laws were to be as near as might be to 
the laws of England, and transmitted to the king in council, 
for approbation, as soon as might be after their enactment; 
and, if not disapproved within three years, to remain in force: 
on the death of the president-general, the speaker was to 
succeed him, and to hold the office until the king's pleasure 
was known: military or naval officers to act under this consti- 
tution, to be appointed by the president, and approved by the 
council; civil officers to be nominated by the council, and 
approved by the assembly : in case of vacancy in any office, 
civil or military, the governor of the province in vvhich such 
vacancy should happen was to have authority to appoint, until 
the pleasure of the president and council should be known. 

This plan was submitted to the board of trade in England, 
and to the assemblies of the several provinces. Frank- 
lin says its fate was singular;* the assemblies rejected it, 
as containing too much prerogative; whilst in England it was 
condemned as too democratic. In Pennsylvania it was nega- 
tived without discussion. As a substitute, the British mi- 
nistry proposed that the governors of the colonies, with one 
or more members of the respective councils, should resolve 
on the measures of defence, and draw on the British trea- 
sury for the sums of money required, to be refunded by a 
general tax, imposed by parliament on the colonies. But 
this proposition, being deemed inadmissible by the provinces, 
was abandoned.* 

• Franklin's Memoirs. 



1754] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 281 

Governor Hamilton earnestly solicited the assembly to pro- 
vide him with funds to organize tiie militia, in aid of governor 
Dinvviddie's preparations against the French. They urged 
the delay of the adjoining provinces, and eagerly sheltered 
themselves under an objection they fancied they had disco- 
vered against the legality of the governor's demands. The 
instructions of the earl of Holdernesse, secretary of fo- 
reign affairs, required, should any foreign power encroach on 
his majesty's limits, to erect forts on his majesty's lands, or 
commit any other act of hostility, that the governor should 
represent to the invader the injustice of his proceedings, and 
demand the instant abandonment of his unlawful undertaking; 
and, on failure of this measure, he was to resort to arms, with 
special care that no military force should be used, except 
within the undoubted limits of his majesty's dominions. As 
the governor had not made the requisition in the words of the 
instruction, the assembly was too modest to presume to set 
bounds to his majesty's dominions, or to ascertain the limit's 
of their own province; and, as tljey were not required to 
resist any hostile attempt on his majesty's dominions within 
the province, but to assist in sending forces to the Virginians 
on the Potomac, they deemed it incumbent on them to wait 
for their neighbours, especially as the house was chiefly com- 
posed of such as were conscientiously scrupulous against war. 

The governor, after a sharp reproof for this evasion, as- 
sured the house, that a part of his majesty's dominions within 
the province vvas actually invaded by the subjects of a foreign 
prince, who had erected forts within the same, and that he 
called upon them, pursuant to his majesty's orders, to grant 
such supplies as might enable him to draw forth the armed 
force of the province, in order to resist these hostile attempts, 
and to repel force by force. Having made this formal state- 
ment, in mockery of the disingenuousness of the house, he 
continued his expostulation in a frank and manly manner. 
Loggstown, which the French had seized, thej?^ knew, he said, 
was north of Chanopin, which had been established to be 
within the province, when disputed, on a trial for murder 
before the supreme court, at Philadelphia. He had avoided, 
3G 



282 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [^1754 

hitherlo, to make the requisition, pursuant to the secretary's 
letter, in tenderness to their religious opinions, as such a step 
would have placed them in the front of the war, and exposed 
them to the contempt of the enemy, and of their own Indian 
allies, should they refuse to provide the necessary means to 
repel the invaders. And, in this light, he considered it for- 
tunate that governor Dinwiddie had taken the lead, and pur- 
sued the secretary's instructions. The hostile answer of the 
French they had before them. 

The assembly had too much confidence in their subterfuge 
to abandon it hastily. They demanded formal proof that the 
French had invaded the province, and referred the communi- 
cations of the governor on this subject to a committee, who 
reported that the fact rested upon the testimony of Indian 
traders, unskilled in mensuration. Upon this the house re- 
solved that it did not clearly appear that the subjects of a 
foreign prince had erected forts within the undoubted limits 
of the government; and they accused the governor of impru- 
dence in declaring the province to be invaded, thereby 
changing their relation with Virginia, and making them prin- 
cipals instead of auxiliaries; and as such measures could 
answer no good purpose, they said they resolved to adjourn. 
They were soon again convened by the governor, but no re- 
presentation could induce them to appropriate any useful sum 
to the king's service. 

In the mean time Virginia had raised three hundred men, 
under the command of colonel Fry and lieutenant-colonel 
Washington; the latter of whom marched with two compa- 
nies in advance, to a position called the great meadows, in 
the Allegheny mountains. Here he learned that the French 
hod dispersed a party of workmen, employed by the Ohio 
compan}', to erect a fort on the Monongahela river, and were 
themselves raising fortifications at the confluence of that river 
Avith the Allegheny, to which they gave the name of Fort du 
Quesne; and that a detachment from that place was on its 
march towards his camp. It was impossible to doubt of the 
hostile intentions of this party, and Washington resolved to 
anticipate them. Guided by his Indians, under the cover of 



1754] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 283 

a dark and rainy night, he marched upon, and surprised the 
French encampment, taking the whole party prisoners, save 
one, who escaped; and Jumonville, the commanding officer, 
who was killed. Soon after the whole regiment, the com- 
mand of which had devolved on Mr. Washington, by the 
death of Mr. Fry, was united at the great meadows, and re- 
inforced by two independent companies of regulars, the one 
from South Carolina, and the other from New York, making 
in the whole, an effective force of five hundred men. Having 
erected a stockade for the security of their provisions and 
horses, the troops marched to dislodge the French from Fort 
du Quesne. Their progress was arrested by information of 
the advance of twelve hundred French and Indians; and as 
the Americans had been six days without bread, and had but 
a small supply of meat remaining, and the enemy might cut 
them off from their stores, they determined to retreat to the 
stockade, at the great meadows, which they named Fort 
Necessity. Colonel Washington began a ditch aiound the 
stockade, but before he could complete it he was attacked by 
the French army, under Monsieur de Villier. His troops 
made an obstinate defence, fighting partly within the stockade, 
and partly in the ditch, half filled with mud and water, from 
ten o'clock in the morning until dark, when de Villiers de- 
manded a parley, and offered terms of capitulation. During 
the night articles were signed, by which the garrison were 
allowed the honours of war, to retain their arms and baggage, 
and to return home unmolested. The last clause was not 
strictly kept, the Indians harassing and plundering the Ame- 
ricans during their retreat. The courage and conduct of 
Washington were greatly applauded, and the assembly of 
Virginia voted their thanks to him and his officers. The 
French retired to their position on the Ohio.* 

The attack on the party of Jumonville without summons 
or expostulation, has been deeply reprobated by the French. 
Whilst peace prevailed between the two nations, hostility, they 



* Marshal. Bradford's Journal. Review of military operations in North 
America. Lond. 1757. 



284 HISTORY OV PENNSYLVANIA. [1754 

said, should not have been presumed. They have not hesi- 
tated to call liie death of Jumonville an assassination, and 
have so termed it in the capitulation at Fort Necessity;* the 
attack of which, they state, was in consequence of the outrage 
upon their advance party. These allegations are refuted by 
a review of the conduct of the French since the development 
of their designs upon the Ohio. The capture of the persons 
and property of the settlers at Logstown, and of the English 
traders, wherever found in the western country, afforded con- 
clusive evidence of their intention to try the disputed title by 
force, and they could not justly complain of the reply to their 
argument.! 

Governor Hamilton, on the news of Washington's defeat, 
again convened the assembly. And though the public exigen- 
cies became hourly more urgent, and a body of Indians 
driven from their home?, demanded support and protection 
for their families whilst they should engage the enemy, and 
the frontier inhabitants prayed for arms and ammunition to 
protect themselves, the pertinacity of governor and assembly 
in relation to the money bill, rendered their labours nugatory; 
and the former gladly referred the subject to his successor. 

Mr. Hamilton's administration had continued six years, 
and was distinguished for its mildness, firmness and ability. 
His knowledge of the country, the interest which a large 
property gaVte him in its welfare, and his connexion with the 
principal inhabitants, were important pledges for his Zealand 
integrity. Obedience to the proprietary and royal instruc- 
tions, produced frequent and unpleasant altercations between 
him and the assembly, but he never forgot what was due to 
their character or his own. He foresaw that circumstances 
would necessarily bring the governor into bitter conflicts 
with the Quaker interest, still predominant in the province, 
and that public disputes might terminate in private animosi- 

* Bradford's Journal. 

t Colonel Washington, ignorant of the Frcncli language, was unable to 
read the articles of capitulation, and was compelled to rely on an interpre- 
ter, who translated the word ".issassinat," into the English word "death" 
merely. Washington's letter. 



1754] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 285 

ties. To avo'ul these he, early in 1753, gave notice to the 
proprietaries, pursuant to a condition of his bond, that in 
twelve months from the date of the reception of the notice, 
he would resign his commission. His resignation vvas reluc- 
tantly accepted ; but the proprietaries earnestly requested his 
continuance until Mr. Thomas Penn should arrive in the pro- 
vince, for which he then contemplated to embark, with a 
design to take upon himself the government, in about fifteen 
months." This design was never executed. Although greatly 
respected and esteemed, Mr. Hamilton did not escape the 
causticity which distinguished the assembly in their disputes 
with their governors; yet he would have suflfered more had 
his temper been less moderate or less firm. 

During his administration, the counties of York, Cumber- 
land, Berks, and Northampton, were established, and the 
following public acts were passed ; an act to correct abuses of 
masters of ships, in the importation of German and other pas- 
sengers; an act regulating domestic attachments; an act 
barring estates tail, by the confirmation of fines and recove- 
ries; and an act to prevent disputes about the dates of con- 
veyances. The last was occasioned by the act of parliament 
of 1751, reforming the calendar, and fixing the commence- 
ment of the year on the first of January. The scruples of the 
Quakers to call the months by their designated names, as a 
remnant of heathenism, had been protected by an act of assem- 
bly in the reign of Queen Anne, making valid all convey- 
ances and other instruments of writing dated as of the first, 
second, &c. months, the year then commencing on the twen- 
ty-fifth of March. The same protection was now given, com- 
mencing the year on the first day of January. The duty of 
the governor also required him to enforce, by proclamation, 
one of those many laws of Great Britain which were designed 
to mark and preserve the dependence of the colonies; an act 
of parliament, solicited by the proprietaries, having passed in 
1750,t entitled " an act to encourage the importation of pig 
and bar iron from his majesty 'vS colonics in America, and to 

* Hamilton's MS. f Letter of T. I'cnn to governor Hamilton, 



286 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l754 

prevent the erection of any mill or other engine for slitting or 
rolling of iron, or any plating forge, to work with a tilt ham- 
mer, or any furnace for making steel in any of the said colo- 
nies." At the time of issuing this proclamation there were 
no tilt hammers in the province, but there was a slitting mill 
at work in Chester county, and a steel furnace in Philadel- 
phia. As the statute was not retrospective, these factories 
were suffered to continue their operations.* 

* Minutes of council. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Robert Hunter Morris governor- •••Instructions from the mi- 
nistry'"«Proceedings of the French and Indians""Proceed- 
ings of assembly^'"Indians--^'ArrivaI of general Braddock 
••••Claims the assistance of the province"«'Frivolous dis- 
pute excited by the governor-^'-Application for assistance 
from Massachusetts — Conduct of assembly thereon- •••Non- 
intercourse law^^^ 'Convention of governors at Annapolis in 

Maryland' •••Plan of the campaign Expedition against 

Nova Scotia^-'Cruelty towards the neutrals^'^ 'German re- 
demptionerS'^^Braddock's expedition^ ••-Proceeding of the 
assembly* •••Propose to tax the proprietary estates* •••Visit 
from the Indians- •••New disputes between the governor and 
assembly«'"Devastations on the frontiers' •••General defec- 
tion of the Indians«'«-Causes of this defection- •••Supply 
bill"«»Petitions of the people^ ••Donation by the proprietors 
•••Measures of defence^^'^Plan of the campaign for 1756"" 
Enlistment of servants^^^ •Dispute on the renewal of the ex- 
cise* •••Proprietary instructions Bill for regulating the 

soldiers Declaration of vv^ar against the Shawanese and 

Delawares-^^ •Remonstrance of the Quakers Indians*"- 

Suspension of hostilities against them* •••Declaration of war 
in Europe****Lord Loudon commander-in-chief****Proposi- 
tion to continue the embargo-^^^Treaty at Easton with the 
Indians^^'*Removal of governor Morris. 

Robert Hunter Morris, son of Lewis Morris, formerly 
governor of New Jersey, was commissioned by the proprie- 
taries on the fourteenth of May, approved by the king on the 
fourteenth of June, and arrived in Pennsylvania early in Oc- 
tober, 1751. 

A new assembly had been elected about the time of his 
arrival, but did no business at their first session, held imme- 



388 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA". [1755 

diately after, in consequence of his visit to the territories. 
At their second session, in December, he laid before them a 
letter from sir Thomas Robinson, one of his majesty's prin- 
cipal secretaries of state, reprehending the silence of the pro- 
vince, in relation to the royal order for a concert with the 
other colonies, and commanding him not only to act vigo- 
rously in defence of his own government, but to aid the other 
colonies to repel every hostile attempt. 

He endeavoured to enforce these commands, by alarming 
the assembly with details of the progress of the French. 
With great industry, they had completed fort Du Quesne, 
had garrisoned it with one thousand regulars, amply supplied 
with cannon, provisions, and other necessary munitions, and 
were preparing to occupy the country of the Twightees with 
numerous settlers. The Six nation Indians, now more nu- 
merous on tiie western waters, than in their ancient seats, 
cold to the English cause, and divided among themselves, 
barely maintained their neutrality. Some of them had re- 
moved to Canada, preferring the protection of the active and 
enterprising French commanders, to that of the slothful and 
unsuccessful English. The small body of English troops, 
collected on the frontiers, was weakened by desertion, and 
corrui)ted by insubordination. The Indians who still adhered 
to the province, and had retired before the French, were 
seated at Aughwick. They admired the courage of the ene- 
my, contemned the pacific temper of the assembly, and were 
scarcely kept in quiet by the liberality of the province to 
their families, and its forbearance towards the license of their 
chiefs. 

The assembly prepared a bill for the issue of forty thousand 
pounds currency, appropriating twenty thousand pounds to 
the use of the king, redeemable by the excise in twelve years, 
and the balance to supply the torn and defaced bills of former 
issues. But the governor objected the royal instructions, so 
often urged by his predecessor, yet conceded, that, as he 
might dispense with the suspending clause in extraordinary 
cases, he would venture to sanction the bill, if the sum granted 



1755] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 289 

to the king were made redeemable within five years. This 
proposition was unhesitatingly rejected. 

The government of Great Britain had at length determined 
to oppose energetically the growing power of the French in 
America. Two regiments of foot from Ireland, under the 
command of colonels Dunbar and flalkett, were ordered to 
Virginia, to be there reinforced; and governor Shirley and 
sir William Peperell were directed to raise two regiments of 
a thousand men each, to be officered from New England, and 
commanded by theniselves. Pennsylvania was required to 
collect three thousand men for enlistment, to be placed at 
the disposal of a commander-in-chief of rank and capacity, 
who would be appointed to command all the king's forces in 
America: to supply the troops on their arrival with provi- 
sions, and to furnish all necessaries for the soldiers landed or 
raised within the province; to provide the officers with means 
for travelling, for impressing carriages, and quartering troops. 
And, as these were "local matters, arising entirely within 
her government, his majesty expected the charges thereof to 
be borne by his subjects within the province; whilst articles 
of more general concern would be charged upon a common 
fund, to be raised from all the colonies of North America." 
Toward this fund the governor was directed to urge the as- 
sembly to contribute liberally, until a union of the northern 
colonies for general defence could be effected. 

In answer to a message of the governor, based on these re- 
quisitions, the house referred ium to the money bill they had 
sent him; and, after a recapitulation of their arguments against 
his objections, they intimated an opinion, that his refusal to 
pass the bill was occasioned by the proprietary instructions, 
which they requested might be shown to them. He evaded 
a direct answer to this request, but assured them, that his in- 
structions were designed to promote the real happiness of the 
inhabitants, and contained nothing which his duty would not 
have required, had they never been given. And, though it 
was indecorous and unprecedented, for the house to demand 
their exhibition, still he would communicate them when ne- 
cessary for the public service: it was sufficient now, to say 
37 



290 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. (^1755 

that he was instructed by the proprietaries earnestly to recom- 
mend to them the defence of the province, not only by the 
grant of money to the king, but by the establishment of a 
regular militia, the purchase of arms and military stores, and 
the erection of magazines. He would add, he said, to his 
former reasons for negativing their bill, the present state of 
the treasury, which did, or ought to, contain fifteen thousand 
pounds, and had an annual revenue of seven thousand per 
annum. With these resources, and a rich and numerous po- 
pulation, he deemed it unpardonable to disobey the royal in- 
structions. 

When unprepared or unwilling to discuss the prominent 
. parts of a governor's message, the house frequently selected 
from it some minor subject, which, treated excursively, 
enabled them to gain time, perplex the argument, and obtain 
the victory. They now seized on the governor's denial of a 
precedent to the call for proprietary instructions. They ad- 
verted to the right of parliament to ask from the crown such 
information as they deemed necessary, and thence inferred 
their own right to inspect his instructions, which they sup- 
ported by examples from tlie administrations of sir William 
Keith, and colonel Thomas. Then, assuming his instructions 
to be inconsistent with their views, they declined to proceed 
further in the public labours, until, by a knowledge of the pro- 
prietary designs, they might be enabled to labour successfully. 
The public service now required this; and, as they were about 
to address the king in support of their civil and religious liber- 
ties, the proprietary instructions, their force, and validity, 
would form the great burden of their petition, unless satisfied 
by the governor that remonstrance on that subject was unne- 
cessary. But this threat availed not. Mr. Morris denied 
their right, and persisted in his refusal. 

The pertinacity of the governor produced from the house 
a long address; in which they reviewed all the objections that 
had been made to their money bills, and dwelt with much 
earnestness upon tlie injustice and tyranny of administering 
the government by proprietary instructions, kept secret from 
the people, instead of their constitution. "These instrue- 



1755] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 291 

tions," they said, "as they have occasionally been made 
a part of the public records, have been judged, by go- 
vernor, council, and representatives, either, 1, Inconsistent 
with the legal prerogative of the crown, settled by act of par- 
liament; 2, or a positive breach of the charter of privileges 
to the people; 3, or absurd in their conclusions, and, there- 
fore, impracticable; 4, or void in themselves: therefore, if, 
after exhibition of his instructions, the governor, finding 
them to be such as had heretofore been given, should find 
reason, notwithstanding the bonds he may have given to 
follow them, to disobey them, they would cheerfully grant 
such further sums for the king's use, as the circumstances of 
the country would bear, and in a manner least burdensome to 
the inhabitants." 

But that no doubt might exist of their disposition to obey 
the orders of the crown in all things not forbidden by their 
consciences, the assembly unanimously resolved to borrow 
on the credit of the house the sum of five thousand pounds, 
to be expended in the purchase of fresh provisions, for the 
use of the king's troops on their arrival, and appointed a 
committee to negotiate the loan. 

The dispute between the governor and assembly was 
now contracted to a single point. The public necessity, 
he admitted, would justify his disregard of the royal in- 
structions relative to a suspending clause, but no exigency 
eould induce him to depart from the proprietary commands, 
nor to extend the excise act for more than five years. His 
obstinate adherence to his instructions became a criminal dis- 
regard of the public welfare; and the conduct of the house 
subjected them in a degree to like censure, by their perseve- 
rance in maintaining and enlarging the grasp of the pub- 
lic revenue. A series of long and angry messages and replies, 
resulted in a determination on the part of the assembly to 
address the king, in testimony of their loyalty and affection, 
and to represent to him the difficulties produced by proprie- 
tary instructions. 

The Indians at Aughwick having deputed their chief, Scar- 
royady, and two others, to attend a council of the Six nations 



292 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [lT55 

at Ononda|t;o, they passed by Philadelphia to obtain necessa- 
ries. The son-in-law of Scarroyady, who accompanied him, 
was charoed by the Oiiendaets, his tribe, to inquire what 
Iheir brethren, the English, designed in relation to the French 
encroachments. He received with joy the news of the pre- 
parations to restrain them, as the faith of the Indians in the 
courage and strength of the English had been greatly dimi- 
nished by the inactivity of the latter; and with the assent of 
the assembly he returned immediately to his nation to relate 
the cheerful tidings. On Scarroyady's return he again stopped 
at the city with several young men, whose services he repre- 
sented as iiTiportant to the common cause; and who at least 
answered his present purpose of extracting a present from the 
assembly. But the house refused to supply means for a 
treaty with the western tribes, and recommended the re- 
moval of the Indians whom they had supported during the 
winter at Augwick, to their own grounds, where they might 
subsist by planting and hunting. In January, some chiefs of 
the Six nations visited Philadelphia, on business with the 
proprietaries; these also the governor recommended to the 
notice of the assembly, but as this notice was to assume the 
form of a present, and as these chiefs had partaken of the 
donation lately distributed at Albany, and their visit was 
solely on proprietary account, the house refused them all 
gratuity. 

On the fourteenth of January, major-general Braddock, 
Sir John St. Clair, adjutant-general, and the regiments of 
Dunbar and Halkett sailed from Cork; and they arrived early 
in March at Alexandria, in Virginia, whence they marched to 
Frederickstown, in Maryland. The place of debarkation was 
selected with that ignorance and want of judgment which 
then distinguished the British ministry. The country could 
furnish neither provisions nor carriages for the army; whilst 
Pennsylvania, rich in grain, and well stocked with wagons, 
could readily supply food, and the means to transport the 
army to any point. The assembly, apprehending the general 
to be prejudiced against them, sent Mr. Franklin to unde- 
ceive him; with instructions, however, not to assume the 



1755] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 293 

character of their agent, but to present himself as post-master 
general, disposed to make his office subservient to (he gene- 
ral's pliins. Whilst Franklin was with the army, the return of 
the wagons obtainable was made; from which it appeared 
that there were not more than twenty-five, and not all of 
those serviceable. The general and his officers were sur- 
prised, declared the expedition at an end, and exclaimed 
against the ministers for having sent them into a country des- 
titute of the means of transportation. On Franklin expressing 
his regret that the army had not been landed in Pennsylva- 
nia, where such means abounded, Braddock seized eagerly 
on his words, and comrnissioned him, on liberal terms, to 
procure one hundred and fifty wagons, and fifteen hundred 
pack horses. Franklin, on his return, circulated advertise- 
ments through the counties of York, Lancaster, and Cumber- 
land, and by an artful address obtained, in two weeks, all the 
wagons, two hundred and fifty pack horses, and much popu- 
larity for himself.* 

He stated in his address that he had found the general in- 
censed at the delay of the horses and carriages he had expect- 
ed from Philadelphia; and disposed to send an armed force 
to seize the carriages, horses, and drivers necessary for the 
service. But that he, apprehending the visit of British sol- 
diers, in their present temper, would be very inconvenient 
to the inhabitants, was desirous to try what might be done by 
fair and equitable means; and that an opportunity was now 
presented of obtaining thirty thousand pounds in silver and 
gold, which would supply the deficiency of the provincial 
currency. He expended eight hundred pounds received from 
the general, advanced two hundred himself, and gave his 
bonds for the payment of the value of such horses as should 
be lost in the service; the owners refusing to rely upon Brad- 
dock's promise, alleging that he was unknown to them. The 
claims made against him in consequence of this engagement 
amounted to twent}^ thousand pounds, and were not settled 
by the government until after much delay and trouble.! 

* Franklin's Auto Biog^apliy. 

f Mr. Franklin's representations were strongly enforced by chief justice 



294 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1755 

The adjutant-general, immediately on the arrival of the 
troops, required of governor Morris, that roads should be cut 
to facilitate their march, and the supply of provisions. Ge- 
neral Braddock demanded the establishment of a post between 
Philadelphia and Winchester, the Pennsylvania quota of 
men, and her portion of the general fund directed to be raised 
for the public service. 

The assembly, specially summoned, met on the seventeenth 
of March, and immediately provided for Ihe expense of a 
mail, and the opening of the roads: and though they gave no 
direct encouragement to the raising of troops, they applied 
themselves assiduously to establish the necessary funds. 

The effects of this favourable disposition were procrasti- 
nated by the puerility of the governor. It was the practice 
of the house at the close of each session to print and publish 
their minutes. But, on the last day of the late session he 
demanded a copy to be delivered to him immediately. The 
assembly gave him no direct answer, but directed their 
minutes to be published with all convenient speed, and a 
copy to be furnished him when finished. This he did not 
receive until two months after the adjournment of the house, 
when he discovered that the letters of Sir Thomas Robinson, 
undersecretary of state, were spread upon them at full length. 
He condemned this as a gross impropriety, and commanded 
the suppression of that part of the minutes which contained 
them, and declared his intention not to communicate other 
letters or papers relative to his majesty's service until he had 
proper assurances of the secrecy of the house; and required, 
that the clerk should attend him daily with the minutes, that 
he might keep his majesty's ministers advised of the proceed- 
ings of the legislature. A committee, of which Franklin was 
chairman, defended the entry of the letters upon the minutes, 
as they formed the basis of the proceedings of the house, 
and might be necessary for its justification. They considered 
the governor's complaint in the present instance ridiculous, 
as these letters were circulars addressed to all the colonies, 

Allen, then upon the ch-cuit, and by the judg'es of the several county 
courts. 



17553 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 295 

their contents published in the messages of the several gover- 
nors, and the letters had been printed in the London Gazette* 
*' They knew not," they said, " what assurances of secrecy 
he might expect, but that when secrecy was necessary, proper 
measures would be taken to preserve it. It had been their 
constant practice to appoint a committee to revise their 
minutes after the rising of the house, and before publication. 
Until this was done no copies were ever delivered, unless of 
particular votes, on special occasions. The principal matters 
they contained were to be found in the governor's messages 
and the replies of the house, which, with the material votes, 
were immediately printed in the newspapers. The rest was 
matter of form, uninteresting even to the people of the pro- 
vince, and unworthy the attention of his majesty and his 
ministers; and as it was inconvenient and useless to the pub- 
lic to make up their minutes daily, so that a copy could be 
given him, and as they knew no right he possessed so pe- 
remptorily to demand it, they were not inclined to alter their 
ancient custom ; and when they reflected on the importance 
of the business before them, and the earnestness with which 
he had pressed unanimity and despatch, they could not but 
be surprised to receive a message which could only tend to 
produce division and delay. They, therefore, humbly en- 
treated him to suspend all irritating accusations and novel 
demands until a season of more leisure, and to permit them 
to proceed with the business on which he had been pleased to 
call them together, and the very important matters he had 
recommended to their consideration." The governor next 
turned himself upon the printers, Messrs. Franklin and Hall, 
and forbade them to publish the letters with the minutes of 
the house. But, on Franklin's application, the assembly 
resolved that the letters were properly placed on the minutes, 
that they were the sole judges of what should be inserted 
thereon, and that the publication should proceed. The go- 
vernor now informed the house that he had ordered his 
secretary to inspect their journals, and to take a copy of their 
minutes from the seventeenth to the twentieth of March in- 
clusive. But tiie house replied, that when the session was 



396 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1755 

over their minutes would be revised and printed as usual, 
when a fair copy should be furnished him; until then, they 
prayed he would excuse them, if they did not permit any 
person to inspect them, or a copy to be taken. This frivo- 
lous affair had no other effect than to alienate the minds of 
both parties, and to prejudice them on subjects of deeper im- 
portance. 

In defence of the northern frontiers, governor Shirley 
was instructed to build a fort on Crown Point, at the entranceof 
lake Champlain, for which commissioners were sent from Mas- 
sachusetts to solicit aid from the other colonies. The applica- 
tion of Mr. Josiah Quincey, to the assembly of Pennsylvania, 
was warmly seconded by the governor, and favourably received 
by the house. A bill for raising twenty-five thousand pounds for 
the king's use, in bills of credit, redeemable by the excise in 
ten years, was immediately sent to the governor. This sum 
was appropriated, five thousand pounds to repay the sum bor- 
rowed at the last session, five thousand to the order of general 
Braddock, five thousand to Indian and incidental expenses, 
and ten thousand to the purchase of provisions for the Mas- 
sachusetts forces. But the governor refused to sanction the 
bill or return it to the house, alleging that it was of so extra- 
ordinary a nature that he must lay it before his majesty.* 

But Mr. Quiiicey, perceiving the assembly to be sincerely 
desirous to promote the public service, and having laboured 
in vain to remove the governor's objections, he, by the advice 
and assistance of Franklin, addressed himself directly to the 
house. He stated, that the burden which Massachusetts ne- 
cessarily bore, from her vicinity to the French, would com- 
pel her to abandon her present enterprise, unless aided by her 
sister colonies; and congratulating the assembly on their im- 
munity from French visitation, he solicited their atiention to 
the defence of the northern frontier, as the means of con- 
tinuing this blessing; and, though disappointed in the manner 
of their grant, he flattered himself they would yet find means 
to render it efiectual.t 

• A'otes. f Votes. Frank. Mem. 



1755] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 297 

On the next morning, the house voted fifteen thousand 
pounds to the king's use; five thousand to repay the loan of 
the last session, and ten thousand to purchase and transport 
provisions for the troops ahout to march to secure his ma- 
jesty's territories. This sum was raised by hills drawn by a 
committee, appointed by the house, on the treasurer and trus- 
tees of the loan-office, payable to bearer after twelve months, 
and bearing interest at five per cent. To give every facility 
to the circulation of these bills, they were made receivable as 
cash in payment of the excise, in the exchange of money at 
the treasury, and in discharge of debts to the loan-ofiicc. 
This vote affords satisfactory evidence of the disposition of 
the assembly, and shows how much might have been done 
through them, had they been properly treated. Mr. Quin- 
cey, elated with the success of his mission, returned them his 
warmest acknowledgments for their promptitude and libe- 
rality.* 

As the French drew a considerable portion of their sup- 
plies from the English colonies, it became expedient to pro- 
hibit the export of provisions to French ports. This measure 
was adopted by the assembly of Pennsylvania with great 
cheerfulness. 

A convention of the governors of New York, Massachu- 
setts, Marj'land, and Virginia, convened at Annapolis, in 
Maryland, to settle with general Braddock a plan of military 
operations.! Three expeditions were resolved on. The first, 
against fort Du Quesne, under the command of general Brad- 
dock in person, with the British troops, and such aid as he 
could draw from Maryland and Virginia; the second, against 
Niagara and fort Frontignac, under general Shirley, with his 
ow'n and Peperell's regiments; and the third, originally pro- 
posed by Massachusetts, against Crown Point, to be executed 
altogether with colonial troojis from New England and New 
York, under major-general William Johnson of New York. 

Whilst these measures were in embryo, an expedition was 
undertaken agninst the French po.^sessions in Nova Scotia' 

"• Votes. t I'l"! 

3S 



298 HISTOKY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [ I 7 5 5 

The territorial claims of tlie English extended northvvard to 
the St. Lawrence;* but the French endeavoured to restrict 
them to the peninsula of Acadie. Whilst the two crowns 
were fruitlessly discussing their several claims in Europe, 
the French occupied, and prepared to defend, the disputed 
territory. Though the enterprise against it was planned in 
Massachusetts, to be executed by the troops of that colony, 
in conjunction with the regiments of Shirley and Peperell, 
the command was given to lieutenant-colonel Monckton, a 
British ofKcer. His second was lieutenant-colonel Winslow, 
a major-general of the provincial militia. The provincial 
troops, amounting to near three thousand men, embarked at 
Boston on the twentieth of May, and arrived in the basin 
of Annapolis Royal, on the twenty-eighth of the same month. 
They were afterwards joined by three hundred British sol- 
diers with a small train of artillery. In little more than a 
month, with the loss of three men only, they obtained pos- 
session of the whole province of Nova Scotia, according to 
their own definition of its boundaries. This easy conquest 
elated the colonies, and produced sanguine anticipations from 
their future efTorts. 

It would have been well for humanity and the honour of 
the British name, had the victors enjoyed their triumph in 
merc3^ But they disgraced their conquest by scenes of de- 
vastation and misery, scarce'paralleled in modern history. The 
inhabitants of Nova Scotia were chiefly descendants of French 
parentage. By the treaty of Utrecht, (1713) they were per- 
mitted to retain their lands, taking the oath of allegiance to 
their new sovereign, with the qualification, that they should 
not be comi)ellcd to bear arms against their Indian neigh- 
bours, or their countiymen; and this immunity was, at sub- 
sequent periods, assured to their children. Such was the 
notoriety of this compact, that, for near half a century, they 
had borne the name, and, with few exceptions, maintained 
the character, of neutrals. But, at length, excited by their 
ancient love of France, their religious attachments, and 

* Marshall. 



1755] HISTORY OF FEiNNSYLVANIA. 299 

their doubts of the English rights, some of these mild, frugal, 
industrious, and pious people, were seduced to take arms. 
Three hundred were found in Beau Sejour at its capture; but 
it was stipulated that they should be left in the same situation 
as when the army arrived, and should not be punished for 
any thing subsequently done. Yet a council was called by 
Lawrence, lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia, at which the 
admirals Boscawen and JVIoyston assisted, to fletermine the 
fate of these unfortunate people. Sound policy and military 
law demanded the punishment of the leaders of the insur- 
gents, but humanity forbade the extension of this punishment 
widerthan the offence — the involvement of the innocentand the 
guilty. Of a population exceedingseven thousand, notmore than' 
three hundred had taken arms; and, of these, some were com- 
pelled to assume them by the enemy, from whom many had suf- 
fered much in consequence of their refusal to resist the English. 
The council required the elders of the people to take the oath 
of allegiance to the British monarch without the exemption 
which, during fifty years, had been granted to them and their 
fathers. Upon their refusal, it was resolved to expel them 
tVom their country, to confiscate their property, money and' 
household goods excepted, to waste their estates, and burn 
their dwellings. Their public records and muniments of title 
were seized, and the elders treacherously made prisoners. In 
transporting them to their several destinations, the charities of 
blood and affinity were wantonly torn asunder; parents were 
separated from their children, and iiusbands from their wives: 
among many instances of this barbarity, was that of Rene La 
Blanc, who had been imprisoned four years by the French for his 
English attachments. The family of this venerable man, consist- 
ing of twenty children, and about one bundled and fifty grand- 
children, were scattered in different colonies, and himself with 
his wife and two children, only, were put on shore at New 
York. On ship-board, the prisoners were without the ne- 
cessaries of life, and so crowded, that all could not lie down 
at once; and many of the weak and aged ended their miseries 
with their lives; and such were the sufferings of otliers, 
that of five hundred allotted to Pennsylvania, as her portion 



o06 HISTORY OV I'ENNbVl.VAN'lA. [j"^^^ 

of the burtlicii, more than onc-haif died soon alter their ar- 
rival. So far as it was possible, they were relieved by the 
kindness of the Pennsylvanians.* They were landed at the 
lazaretto on Province island, and placed in the hospital, under 
the superintendence of Anthony Benezef, since well known 
by his humane and ardent eflTorts against the slave trade. Un- 
just and severe as these measures were to the neutrals, the 
consequences did not terminate in fheir sufferings. Gover- 
nor Lawrence, with great presumption, and a total disregard 
of the rights of the neighbouring provinces, imposed a heavy 
and durable burthen upon them, in the maintainance of this 
devoted race, for which they were never requited. In Phila- 
delphia " the neutrals" long remained a separate people. They 
petitioned the crown in vain for redress, refused for a long time 
to labour, but, finally, settled in low huts, in a quarter of the 
town, where a vestige continued until the year eighteen hun- 
dred. 

The assembly endeavoured, though in vain, to re-model 
the law regulating the importation of German passengers.! 
The Germans now imported were of a more mixed cha- 
racter than heretofore, and gross abuses were pracfised by 
the importers. The passengers were crowded on board 
the ships without regard to cleanliness or health, and the 
whole were made responsible for the passage money of 
each, and were frequently, from this cause, reduced to one 
level of want and misery. The baggage of the passengers 
was put on board of other ships, with the design of securing 
to the merchants the property of those who died on the 
voyage. Contagious diseases were engendered, which spread 
widely on the arrival of the vessels by their evasion of the 
quarantine. The provisions introduced by the assembly to 
remedy these evils were stricken from the bill by the gover- 
nor's council, many of whom, as the house averred, profited 
by this shameful traffic. J 

The freedom and severity with which the assembly com- 
mented upon the rejection of the salutary clauses of this bill, 

* Minot. Marsliat!. Mem. of the neutrals. Votes. f 1755, May 12. 

t Votes. 



\75S] HISTOUY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 301 

drew from the governor a violent reprehension of their general 
conduct. He accused them of a total disregard of the public 
welfare in refusing provisions anil carriages for the troops; 
of voting money on terms they knew to be inadmissible; of 
aiming at independence by illegally raising money on the 
mere vote of the house; and he marshalled in formidable array 
their sins of omission and commission against his administra- 
tion. The assembly made a conclusive defence by enume- 
rating the sums they had appropriated to the opening of roads, 
and to the purchase of provisions for the western and northern 
armies, from the funds over which the law gave them abso- 
lute control. 

General Braddock removed his army to a post on Will's 
creek, since called fort Cumberland, where he awaited the 
wagons and other necessary supplies for his expedition. From 
this place, confident of success, he informed the governors of 
Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, that, should he take 
Fort du Quesne in its present condition, he would, after some 
additions, garrison it, and leave there the guns, ammunition, 
and stores he should find in it. But, should the enemy aban- 
don and destroy the fortifications, ^s he apprehended, he 
would repair the fort, or construct another. In the latter case 
he required the necessary means of defence to be furnished 
by the colonies, and to be forwarded immediately, that he 
might not be delayed in his progress to forts Niagara and 
Frontignac: he also gave information of the enemy's inten- 
tion to attack the frontier settlements as soon as he should 
have marched beyond them. 

Upon receipt of the general's letter, governor Morris con- 
vened the assembly, and urged their compliance with his 
request; but he irritated the house, and delayed this momen- 
tous business, by refusing to lay before them the letter without 
a formal pledge of secrecy, which the house refused to give, 
on the ground that their discretion was a sufficient safeguard 
against its improper use; and, finally, by refusing to depart 
from the royal and proprietary instructions, he rendered 
abortive every eflbrt the assembly was disposed to make 
towards the supply of the necessary funds. Ili.s obstinacy 



302 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA, [1753 

Was now more repreliensible, as the bill passed by governor 
Thomas contrary to the royal instructions, was at length re- 
turned approved by the king.* The house, despairing to 
prevail with him, adjourned until September, first re-enacting 
the law prohibiting the export of provisions to Cape Breton 
and other French possessions.t 

General Braddock, at length amply furnished with all ne- 
cessaries, and reinforced by a considerable body of Americans 
and Indians, broke up his encampment on the twelfth of 
June. He passed the Allegheny mountains, at the head of 
two thousand two hundred men. On reaching the Little 
]VIeadows,five days' march from Fort du Quesne, he called a 
council of war to determine his future motions. Colonel 
Washington, who had entered his family as a volunteer aid- 
de-camp, and possessed a knowledge of the country, and the 
service to be performed, had urged the substitution of pack 
horses for wagons in the transportation of the baggage, now 
renewed his advice; and earnestly recommended, that the 
heavy artillery and stores should remain with the rear divi- 
sion, and follow by easy marches, whilst a chosen body of 
trooj}s, with a few pieces of light cannon, and stores of abso- 
lute necessity, should press forward to Fort du Quesne. He 
enforced this counsel by the information he had received of 
the march of five hundred men to reinforce the French, who, 
though delayed by the low state of the waters, might be ac- 
celerated by rains, which, in ordinary course, might be imme- 
diate. His opinion prevailed. Twelve hundred men, and twelve 
pieces of cannon, were selected. These were commanded 
by general Braddock in person, accompanied by Sir Peter 
Halket, acting as brigadier; and lieutenant-colonels Gage 
and Burton, and major Spark. Thirty wagons only, including 

* The sluggish progress of colonial business in the couil of Great Brilain 
is strikingly exemplitied by the history of this, and oilier laws this year re- 
turned with his majesty's approbation. Of eleven acts tlius returned, tiie 
fust was passed in 1744, and the last in 1747. They were all confirmed at 
a privy council on the ~8th of October, 1718; but official notice of their 
confirmation was not transmitted until April, 1755. 

t Votes. Universal History. 



1755] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 503 

the ammunition wagons, followed their march. The residue 
of the army remained under the care of colonel Dunbar and 
major Chapman, 

The benefit of tliese prudent measures was lost by the fas- 
tidiousness and presumption of the commander-in-chief. In- 
stead of pushing on with vigour, regardless of a little rough 
road, he halted to level every mole hill, and to throw bridges 
over ever}^ brook, employing four days to reach the great 
crossings of the Yohogany, nineteen miles from the Little 
Meadows. On his march, he neglected the advantage his 
Indians afforded him of reconnoitering the woods and pas- 
sages on the front and flank, and even rejected the prudent 
suggestion of Sir Peter Halket on this subject with a sneer at 
his caution.* 

This overweening confidence and reckless temerity were 
destined to a speedy and fatal reproof.! Having crossed the 
Monongahela river, within seven miles of Fort du Quesne, 
wrapt in security, and joyously anticipating the coming vic- 
tory, his progress was suddenly checked by a destructive fire 
on the front and left flank from an invisible enemy. The van 
was thrown into confusion, but the main body, forming- 
three deep, instantly advanced. The commanding officer of 
the enemy having fallen, it was supposed from the suspen- 
sion of the attack that the assailants had dispersed. The 
delusion was momentary. The fire was renewed with great 
spirit and unerring aim; and the English, beholding their 
comrades drop around them, and, unable to see the foe, or 
tell whence their death arrived, broke and fled in utter dis- 
may. The general, astounded at this sudden and unexpected 
attack, lost his self-possession, and neither gave orders for a 
regular retreat, nor for his cannon to advance and scour the 
woods. He remained on the spot where he first halted, 
directing the troops to form in regular platoons against a foe 
dispersed through the forest, behind trees and bushes, whose 
every shot did execution. The officers behaved admirably, 
but distinguished by their dresses, and selected by the hidden 

• .M:\rsli!ill. Wash. Lett. f July 9, ITS.-;, 



304 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1755 

marksmen, tliey suffered severely; every one on horseback, 
except Washington, was killed or wounded; he had two 
horses killed under him, and four balls through his coat. 
Sir Peter Halkett was killed on the spot, and the general 
himself having been five times dismounted, received a ball 
through the arms and lungs, and was carried from the field of 
battle. He survived only four days. On the first he was totally 
silent, and at night only said, " who would have thought it." 
He was again silent until a few minutes before his death, 
when he said, " we shall better know how to deal with them 
another time." 

The defeat was total, the carnage unusually great. Sixty- 
four, out of eighty-five officers, and one-half the privates, 
were killed or wounded. Many fell by the arms of their 
fellow soldiers. An absolute alienation of mind seems to 
have fallen upon the regular troops. In despite of the orders 
of the officers, they gathered in squads of ten or twelve deep, 
and in their confusion fired and shot down the men before 
them; and the troops in line fired on the provincials where- 
ever they saw a smoke, or heard a shot from behind trees. 
Captain Waggoner, of the Virginia forces, who had taken an 
advantageous position on the flank, with eighty men, w^as 
driven from it by the British fire with the loss of fifty.* 
Fortunately the Indians were held from the pursuit by the 
desire of plunder. The artillery and military stores, even 
the private cabinet of the commander-in-chief, containing his 
instructions, fell into the hands of the enemy, whose whole 
force was computed at three hundred men. 

The fugitives continuing their flight to Dunbar's division, 
so infected it with their terror, that, though the enemy did 
not advance, all the artillery and stores collected for the cam- 
paign, except those indispensable for immediate use, were 
destroyed, and the remnant of the army marched to fort Cum- 
berland. The loss in this engagement would have been still 
greater, but for the coolness and courage of tlie colonial troops. 
These, whom Hraddock had contemptuously placed in his 

* Penn. Herovds, 



1755] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 305 

rear, so far fiom yielding to the panic which disordered the 
regulars, offered to advance against the enemy, until the others 
could form and hring uj) the artillery; hut the regulars could 
not again be brought to the charge, yet the provincials ac- 
tually formed and covered their retreat. The conduct of the 
Virginia troops merits the greatest praise. Of three compa- 
nies brought into the field, it is said, scarce thirty escaped 
uninjured. Captain Peyroney and all his officers, down to a 
corporal, were killed. Captain Poison's company shared al- 
most as hard a fate; the captain himself was killed, and one 
officer only escaped. Of the company of light-horse, com- 
manded by captain Stewart, twenty-five out of twenty-nine 
were slain.* 

This misfortune is solely to be ascribed to the misconduct 
of the general. Presumptuous, arrogant, and ignorant, he 
had no qualit}^ save courage to insure success. Unacquainted 
with the country, and the Indian mode of warfare, he neglected 
the suggestions of the duke of Cumberland, whose instruc- 
tions seemed predicated on a prescience of his conduct, and 
the advice of his American officers, to employ his Indians in 
guarding against ambush and surprise. He neglected and 
disobliged the Virginians, and behaved with insupportable 
haughtiness to all around him. With a lethargy in all his 
senses, produced by his self-sufficiency, he led his troops to 
be defeated and slaughtered by a handful of men, who in 
tended only to molest their march. 1(1) 

Dunbar proposed to return with his army, yet strong enough 
to meet the enemy, to Philadelphia; but consented, on the 
remonstrance of the assembly of Pennsylvania, to keep the 
frontiers. He requested a conference with governor Morris 
at Shippensburg; but governor Shirley having succeeded to 
the chief command of the forces in America, though at first 
he directed Dunbar to renew the enterprise on fort du Quesne, 
and to draw upon the neighbouring provinces for men and 
munitions, changed his mind, and determined to employ his 

• Penn. Gaz. | Mod. Univ. ni.st. Marshall. Franklin. Kirlia'-tl 

Peters' report to council. W. Shirley's letter to governor Morris, 
(1) Sec note- N 2, Appendix, 

'i9 



"06 HISTORY OF PENNbVLVAMA. [l755 

troops elsewhere, leaving to the poi)ulous provinces of Penn- 
sylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, the care of their own de- 
fence. 

The consternation at Braddock's defeat was very great in 
Pennsylvania. The retreat of Dunbar left the whole fron- 
tier uncovered; whilst the inhabitants, unarmed and undisci- 
plined, were compelled hastily to seek the means of defence 
or of flight. In describing the exposed state of the province, 
and the miseries which threatened it, the governor had occa- 
sion to be entirely satisfied with his own eloquence; and had 
his resolution to defend it equalled the earnestness of his ap- 
peal to the assembly, the people might have been spared much 
suffering. 

The assembly immediately voted fifty thousand pounds to 
the king's use, to be raised by a tax of twelve pence per 
pound, and twenty shillings per head, yearly, for two years, 
on all estates, real and personal, throughout the province, the 
proprietary estate not excepted. The governor returned this 
bill with a single amendment; — striking out the word " not," 
by which the proprietary estate was wholly exempted from 
taxation. Nor could he be induced to depart from this amend- 
ment, supporting it by the following reasons : that his in- 
structions and his judgment were equally against the measure; 
that every governor, hereditary or otherwise, was exempt 
from the payment of taxes ; that this exemption was con- 
firmed by positive law, declaring that the proper estates of 
the proprietaries should not be liable to rates and taxes; that 
the assessors were chosen, in consequence of such exemption, 
by the people, without the voice of the proprietaries, and 
should not be authorized to assess their estates; and, lastly, 
that it was contrary to usage in all proprietary governments, 
to lay any tax upon the estates of the proprietaries exercising 
the government by themselves or lieutenants. After the first, 
it was, perhajos, altogether unnecessary to enumerate other 
reasons. We cannot do more justice to the assembly, than 
by extracting their view of this question from their reply to 
the governor, premising, that the productive property of the 
proprietaries at this time greatly exceeded a million sterling;- 



lySS] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 307" 

and that their whole estate in the province, according to an 
estimate of Dr. FrankHn, (an estimate, it is true, made for 
party purposes,) was ten millions sterling.* 

Proprietary instructions, they said, which diminished or 
destroyed the power vested in the lieutenant-governor by the 
royal charter, were void, and had been so declared by the 
council of governor Evans, with the advice of William Penn, 
the younger, the learned judge Mompesson, and the secretary 
Logan, in considering restrictions imposed on his legislative 
power. They discriminated between the official and private 
character of the proprietaries; in the latter of which only they 
proposed to tax them. In such character, the king liimself 
was not exempt from taxation; his tenants being authorized 
to deduct their land-tax from their rents: but this was not the 
first instance, by many, in which proprietaries and governors 
of petty colonies had assumed to themselves greater powers 
and prerogatives than were claimed by their royal master 
upon his imperial throne: and, though the law regulating 
county rates and levies exempted the proprietary estates from 
county taxes, the privilege depended upon the act which was 
in the power of the legislature, and could not be extended 
beyond its grant. "On the whole," they continued, ''we 
beg the governor would again calmly and seriously consider 
our bill, to which end we once more send it up to him. We 
know, that without his assent the money cannot be raised, 
nor the good ends, so earnestly desired and expected from it, 
be obtained, and we fear his resolution to refuse it. But we 
entreat him to reflect with what reluctance a people born and 
bred in freedom, and accustomed to equitable laws, must un- 
dergo the weight of this uncommon tax, and even expose 
their persons for the defence of his estate, who, by virtue of 
his power, only, and without the colour of right, should re- 
fuse to bear the least share of the burden, thougii to receive 
50 great a benefit. With what spirit can they exert them- 
selves in his cause, who will not pay the smallest part of their 
grievous expenses? How odious must it be to » sensible, 



\ 



Hist. Kev, Appernl 



308 HISTORY OI' PEXN'SYLVANIA. ( 1 7 5 5 

manly people, to find him, who ought to be their father and 
protector, taking advantage of public calamity and distress, 
and their tenderness for their bleeding country, to force down 
their throats laws of imposition, abhorrent to common justice, 
and common reason ! Why will the governor make himself 
the hateful instrument for reducing a free people to the abject 
state of vassalage, for depriving them of those liberties which 
have given reputation to our country through{j>ut the world, 
and drawn inhabitants from the remotest parts of Europe to 
enjoy them? Liberties not only granted us of favour, but of 
right; liberties in effect which we have bought and paid for; 
since we have not only performed the conditions on which 
they were granted, but have actually given the higher price 
for our lands on that account; so that the proprietary family 
have been doubly paid for them — in the value of the lands, 
and the increase of people. Let not our affections be torn 
in this manner from a family we have long loved and ho- 
noured; let that novel doctrine, hatched by their mistaken 
friends, ' that privileges granted to promote the settlement of 
acountry, are to be abridged when the settlement is obtained,' 
iniquitous as it is, be detested as it deserves, and banished 
from all our public councils ; and let the harmony, so essential 
to the welfare of both governors and governed, be once again 
restored, since it can never be more necessary to our affairs, 
than in their present melancholy condition."" 

These representations made no impression on the governor; 
though whilst declining to tax the proprietary estate, on the 
ground that his instructions forbade him to do any thing by 
which it would be hurt or encumbered, he proposed to sti- 
mulate exertions against the enemvj by a grant of lands be- 
yond the Allegheny mountains, to those who should engage 
in an expedition against the French on the Ohio. He pro- 
posed, to every colonel, one thousand, to a lieutenant-colonel 
and major, seven hundred and fifty, to captains, five hundred, 
to lieutenants and ensigns, four hundred, and to common sol- 
'diers, two hundred, acres of land, with an exemption from 
quit-rents for fifteen years. This ofi'er, the assembly held to 
he inconsistent with the limitation of his authoritv over the 



1755] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 309 

proprietary estate, and, therefore, they inferred, insincere; 
and, if sincere, not advantageous. Because no assurance was 
given that the lands should he of good quality, nor were 
there any lands better than those of Virginia, which were 
gratuitously granted, subject only to a quit-rent of two shil- 
lings sterling, the payment of which was also suspended for 
fifteen years; whilst the connmon quit-rent of the province 
was four and six-pence. Therefore, an ofier of the best pro- 
prietary lands, west of the Allegheny, was a proposal, that, 
to those who would, at the hazard of their lives, recover the 
proprietary's country from the enemy, they would graciously 
sell a part thereof, at twice the price demanded by their neigh- 
bours. They added, that, if the proprietary, to encourage 
the settlement of the western frontier, would, bona Jide, 
grant good lands on reasonable terms, they would give equal 
encouragement to settlers in provisions, carriages, cattle, and 
instruments of husbandry. But, as the governors power to 
make such grants was not apparent, they would refer the sub- 
ject to future consideration. The apparent inconsistency of 
his proposal with his instructions, the governor attempted to 
reconcile, by reference to the commission of property, whence 
he derived his power to grant lands, which were of greater 
value than those of other provinces, from the nature of the 
population, and the equality of rights which existed in Penn- 
sylvania, He declared, had the assembly seconded him, he 
would have offered, by proclamation, the best lands to those 
enlisting to expel the French. The house, having examined 
the commission to vvhich the governor referred, and discover- 
ing that he was prohibited from granting lands on any other 
terms than fifteen pounds ten shillings per hundred acres, 
and a quit-rent of four shillings and two-pence, treated his 
proposition as a mere illusion, intended to procure an ex- 
emption from taxes by a seeming equivalent. In truth, tho 
letters of the governor to the proprietaries, show, that the 
proposition was made solely with the view of obtaining po- 
pularity, but without expectation that the offer would be ac- 
cepted. * 

* Penn. Records. 



310 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [175 5 

The house tlien proceeded to review all the objections of 
the governor, and his conduct towards them, with great abi- 
lity? strength, and eloquence ; this was followed by the reply 
of the governor, and that by the rejoinder of the house, con- 
cluding with the following passage. " We are now to take 
our leave of the governor; and, indeed, since he hopes no 
good from us, nor we from him, 'tis time we should be parted. 
If our constituents disapprove of our conduct, a few days will 
give them an opportunity of changing us by a new election ; 
and could the governor be as soon and as easily changed, 
Pennsylvania would, we apprehend, deserve much less the 
character he gives it, of an unfortunate country. " The ad- 
dresses of the house were written by Franklin. 

These disputes alarmed the inhabitants, who, beholding 
with dread the procrastination of the measures for defence, 
earnestly demanded arms and ammunition. A number of 
gentlemen, chiefly of the proprietary party, proposed to the 
house to raise by subscription the sum of five hundred pounds, 
the estimated amount of the annual tax, that would be pay- 
able by the proprietaries under the bill. But the house con- 
sidering this proposition as a snare, and the sum greatly below 
the amount of the proposed tax, dexterously rid themselves of 
it by sending it to the governor. Tiiey professed to believe 
from the declaration of the subscribers, that all of them were 
satisfied that the proprietary would refund this sum, under 
the conviction of the justice of the tax ; and as the assembly 
had no power to compound for any estate, and were not an 
incorporated body to sue and be sued, they sent the petition 
with the amount of the sums subscribed, as a further security 
to the governor, under a conviction that the subscribers were 
legally bound to pay, and their estates sufficient to discharge 
their contracts, and trusted that he would, therefore, assent to 
their bill. 

Jagrea, son-in-law of Scaroyady, returned to Philadel- 
phia, with some missionaries from the Owandaets, and 
other Indians, to whom he had kindly oflered to show the 
way, that he might participate in the presents they ex- 
pected from the province. But the house, with much re- 



1755] HISTORY OF TENNSVLVANIA. 311 

luctance, entertained these visitants, whom, they urged, had 
been brought upon them unnecessarily, and had equal claims 
upon the consideration of the proprietaries. To the petitions 
of the western inhabitants for arms, the assembly were not 
inattentive; they granted for this purpose the sum of one 
thousand pounds, to be disbursed by a committee of the house, 
with the approbation of the governor. After which, they 
adjourned to the fifteenth of September. 

The exertions of the eastern colonies to support the north- 
ern campaign, had brought into the field a greater force than 
had been anticipated, and new demands were consequently 
made on Pennsylvania for clothing and provisions. Lieu- 
tenant-governor Phipps, of Massachusetts, applied officially 
to governor Morris on this subject; but that gentleman not 
having communicated this to the house on the third day of 
the September session, they inquired of the governor whether 
such an application had not been made. The governor, in a 
verbal message, communir.ated its tenor, but he refused to lay 
Phipps' letter before the house, having orders from the secre- 
tary of state to communicate such papers only as he pleased; 
and the house indignantly refused to inspect the communica- 
tion by their speaker, or by a committee, and demanded a 
sight of the secretary's letter, which was denied. Upon this^ 
they resolved, " that great inaccuracies and want of precision 
having frequently been observed by the house in the gover- 
nor's manner of stating matters, in his messages, they 
could not think such messages, without the papers therein 
referred to, a sufficient foundation for the house to proceed 
upon, in an affair of moment, or that it would be prudent or 
safe so to do, either for themselves or constituents; and that, 
though the governor might possibly have obtained orders 
not to lay the secretary's letters in some cases before the 
house, they humbly conceived and hoped that letters from 
the neighbouring governments, in cases like the present, 
could not be included in those orders." A member of the 
house then produced a letter from a member of the Massa- 
chusetts council to himself, stating the application for provi- 
sions, and the necessity of an immediate supply, and inform?.- 



312 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l755 

tion being received of the want of blankets and clothing for 
the army, adapted to the approaching season, the assembly 
voted, that a voluntary subscription of any sum not exceed- 
ing ten thousand pounds, paid into the hands of a committee 
nominated by them, within two weeks, towards furnishing 
provisions, blankets, or clothing for the troops at Crown Point 
would be a service to the crown, and acceptable to the public; 
that the subscribers ought to be thankfully reimbursed with 
interest by future assemblies, to whom they were earnestly 
recommended by the house." On this vote supplies were 
furnished, which proved essentially serviceable to the troops, 
and which were gratefully acknowledged by governor Shir- 
ley. This act closed the session, and the term of the assem- 
bly, the time for the election of a new one having arrived. 

The election produced some change in the house, but it 
was not material, the leaders being still the same.* Both go- 
vernor and assembly seemed unwilling to recur to the subject 
of their disputes, or to reflect further upon the dangers that 
impended over the frontier. In this apathy, the assembly, 
with the concurrence of the governor, adjourned, after a ses- 
sion of a few days, to the second of December. 

But the enemy, long restrained by fear of another attack, 
and scarce crediting his senses when he discovered the de- 
fenceless state of the frontiers, now roamed unmolested and 
fearlessly along the western lines of Virginia, Maryland, and 
Pennsylvania, committing the most appalling outrages, and 
wanton cruelties, which the cupidity and ferocity of the sa- 
vage could dictate. The first inroads into Pennsylvania were 
in Cumberland county, whence they were soon extended to 
the Susquehannah. The inhabitants, dwelling at the distance 
of from one to three miles apart, fell unresistingly, were cap- 
tured, or fled in terror to the interior settlements. The main 
body of the enemy encamped on the Susquehannah, thirty 
miles above Harrs' ferry, whence they extended themselves 
on both sides the river. The settlements at the Great Cove 
in Cumberland county were destroyed, and many of the in- 

* 1755, October. 



1755] HISTOUY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 515 

habitants slaughtered or made captives, and the same fate fell 
upon Tulpehocken, upon Mahony, and Gnadenhutten, a 
Moravian settlement. New horrors were given to these 
scenes by the defection of the Shawanese and Delaware In- 
dians, who had hitherto continued faithful, and had repeatedly 
solicited employment against the French and their allies, with 
threats, that unless engaged by the province they would take 
part against her. These threats the assembly had humanely, 
if not wisely, withstood; and now, irritated by the love of 
enterprise, the desire of plunder, and the hopes fed by the 
French, of recovering the lands they had sold, these savages 
openly joined the foe, and actively engaged in the destruction 
of the English. To the perversion of the Indian disposi- 
tion, the Delaware chiefs, Shingas and captain Jacobs, were 
highly instrumental. They had been loaded with favours and 
presents from the provincial authorities, and principal inha- 
bitants of Philadelphia; and their defection and perfidy awak- 
ened the anger of the citizens, who, with the approbation of 
the governor, proclaimed a reward of seven hundred dollars 
for their heads. *(1) 

In consequence of these melanchob^ tidings, the governor 
summoned the assembly for the third of November, when 
he laid before them an account of the proceedings of the 
enemy, and demanded money and a militia law. Petitions 
were poured in from all parts of the province; from the fron- 
tier counties, praying for arms and munitions; from the middle 
counties, deprecating further resistance to the views of the 
governor, and requiring, if it were necessary, a partial sacri- 
fice of the property of the citizens for the defence of their 
lives; and that the religious scruples of the members of the as- 
sembly might no longer prevent the defence of the country. 

The governor, in his message, had assigned as a cause of 
the late Indian defection, the promise of the French to restore 
their lands to the Indians; and, it was rumoured, that some 
tracts in the manor of Conedoguinet were held by theproprie- 
tariesy for which they had refused frequent applications of the 

* Penn. Gazette. (1) See Note O 2, Appendix. 

40 



314 HISTORY OV PENNSYLVANIA. [1755 

Indians for payment. The house turned aside from all other 
matters, to fasten upon this rumour, that they might charge 
the proprietaries with having caused the Indian hostility, and, 
re^-ardless of vengeance for their slaughtered constituents, 
resolved to redress the grievances, and regain the affections 
of the savages. 

If the injustice of the proprietaries had aliened the Indians, 
the course of the assembly was politic and just; but, in truth, 
there was no foundation for their complaints. The Six na- 
tions, and the Delawares, had been paid for these manor 
lands again and again ; and the Shawanese, who had emigrat- 
ed from the south, and had obtained permission to settle in 
the province in 1G9S, had no title to them whatever; nor 
had they or the Delawares at any treaty complained in this 
respect of the proprietaries. But the Indians were not the 
less sensible to the recovery of their lands, because they were 
paid for them, nor more satisfied with beholding the inherit- 
ance of their fathers pass to strangers. They repented much 
of their last sale, which embraced the greater part of the 
remnant of the province, leaving for themselves only a small 
and mountainous district. This was an extravagant and ill- 
advised purchase, though sanctioned by Richard Peters and 
Conrad Weiser, both well ac(juainted with the temper and 
disposition of the Indians. But the proprietaries were, at this 
period, very desirous of extinguishing the Indian title in the 
province, on account of the continued and irrepressible at- 
tempts of the whites to settle the Indian lands, and the neces- 
sity of precluding the interference of Connecticut claimants 
in Pennsylvania, under an antiquated title.* The first of 
these reasons was also a strone; inducement with the Indians 
to sell ; but when the Delawares beheld themselves without 
a country to subsist in, their regrets easily subdued them to 
the will of the French agents, and led to the defeat of Brad- 
dock, and the butcheries we have just noticed. And however 
much the assembly might censure. and lament this purchase 

* Lett, from Weiser to Peters, 1st March, 1755= 



17551 HISTOKV OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



15 



as inexpedient, they had no cause to accuse the proprietaries 
of injustice. 

Returning, therefore, to the defence of the province, the 
jiouse prepared a bill for granting sixty thousand pounds to 
the king's use, in bills of credit, redeemable in four years, by 
a tax on the estates and polls of the inhabitants. This bill 
embraced the proprietary estates, but provided, tliat should 
the proprietaries declare in favour of exempting them, the 
tax, if assessed, should not be levied, or if levied, should be 
repaid. The governor, admitting that the crown only was 
competent to decide the question at issue between them, re- 
fused to bring it up for consideration in this way. But he 
proposed to prepare a bill for taxing the proprietary estates, 
by commissioners mufiially chosen by himself and the house, 
with a clause suspending its operation until approved by the 
king. The assembly refused this, on the plea that the execu- 
tive neither could nor ought to propose a money bill; which 
position they sustained by the authority of parliamentary 
history against the governor, armed with precedents from 
their own journals; and they closed their address by de- 
claring, that if he still refused to pass their bill, they would 
appeal to the throne, by remonstrance, and petition for his 
removal.* 

In the mean time the partisans of the governor assailed the 
house with petitions, A memorial from Chester county urged 
them to decline unnecessary disputes; and a representation 
of the mayor, and several principal inhabitants of Philadel- 
phia, rejecting the language of prayer, demanded that means 
should be taken to defend their lives and properties, by the 
establishment of a militia and a competent fund. So intem- 
perate was this representation by the mayor and citizens, that 
the house denounced it, " as presuming, indecent, insolent and 
improper." 

Nor were complaints and earnest solicitations confined to 
tlie proprietary party. The ever-enduring disputes between 
the governor and assembly wore out, at length, even the Ger- 

" Votes. 



316 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l755 

man patience, and overcame their constitutional plilegm. The 
inhabitants of the remote parts of Phiia(lel])hia county, chiefly 
Germans, to the number of four hundred, marched to the 
city, unarmed, in a peaceable and orderly manner, to implore 
the protection of their rulers, and the postponement of tlieir 
unseasonable debates. They first waited upon the governor, 
who accused the assembly of procrastination; and that body 
did not fail to rebut the charge, whilst they promised these 
sturdy petitioners, who crowded their hall, that means for 
their protection and safety should be speedily adopted. 

To their instances were added the threats of the few Indians 
remaining faithful to the province. These, about three hun- 
dred in number, required the whites lotake up arms, to furnish 
ammunition and provisions, to build forts for the protection of 
their aged, their women, and their children, and give them 
an immediate answer ; that, in case of refusal, they might seek 
their own safety by throwing themselves into the arms of the 
enemy. 

It would have been impossible for the assembly to have 
withstood the governor so long, had they not been sup- 
ported by the people; the great mass of whom were op- 
posed to the militia, and to any system of taxation which did 
not embrace the proprietaries. This disposition was fully 
shown at the late election in Berks county.* One Jonas 
Seely, a candidate for the office of sheriff, at the opening of 
the poll in Reading, united all voices in his favour; but it 
being reported that he was of the governor's party, had asso- 
ciated and exercised the people, and would compel all persons 
to assume the musket, the Germans, to a man, left him, and 
he was not returned. The Quakers too, somewhat indis- 
creetly, as the assembly thought, chose this moment to utter 
their testimony against contributing money for military pur- 
poses.t(l) But the house could not sustain its position much 
longer. Petitioners of their own party thronged their doors, 
and prayed, that if it were possible, without a sacrifice of 

* Weiser lelter, 2nd Oct. 1755. f Votes. (1) Sec Note P 2, 

Appendix. 



1755] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 317 

their rights, some means might be found to unite the province 
in the public defence. They had already, by the exertion 
of Franklin, conceded the militia bill, which the governor 
hastily passed without amendment,* and were saved from 
entire defeat on the money bill only by the donation of the 
proprietaries. 

The latter had received tidings of Braddock's defeat, and, 
fully aware of the imminent danger of their province, sent the 
governor an order for five thousand pounds upon their re- 
ceiver-genera!, to be applied to the common use of the 
colony. This liberal donation terminated the disputes upon 
the impending supply bill, which, divested of its obnoxious 
feature, received the governor's sanction. The gift of the 
proprietaries was payable from the arrears of quit-rents. One 
thousand pounds were immediately collected, and paid to the 
committee of the house, but the receiver-general proposed to 
obtain the remainder by an act of assembly, for striking the 
amount in bills of credit, to be replaced by him as the rents 
should be collected. The bill which he prepared stated the 
sum of five thousand pounds, to be a free gift; the house 
added, " in consideration of being exempted from the pay- 
ment of their taxes, towards raising the sum of sixty thousand 
pounds, granted by the assembly to the king's use." This 
amendment defeated the bill. 

The troops destined for the northern expeditions, were not 
assembled at Albany until the close of June, and were not 
provided with necessaries for the expedition until the last of 
August. General Johnson, having reached the southern shore 
of lake George, on his way to Ticonderoga, received informa- 
tion of the approach of baron Dieskau, at the head of twelve 
hundred regulars, and six hundred Canadians and Indians. 
The baron had designed to attack Oswego, but, hearing of 
Johnson's intention, he resolved to assail him in his camp, 
relying upon information, that he was entirely without artil- 
lery. Johnson detached colonel Williams with a thousand 

• This bill was not compulsory, and it passed tlie house with four dis- 
sentient voices only, James Pemberton, Joseph Trotter, Peter Worral, and 
Joshua Morris, two less than dissented from the money bill voting against it. 



318 HISTOUY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l7 



D3 



men, to reconnoitre and skirmish with the enemy. This 
body, engaging with tlie foe, was soon overthrown, put to 
flight, and its commander killed. A second detachment, 
sent to its aid, experienced the like fate, and both were pur- 
sued to the camp, where they were sheltered behind a breast- 
work of fallen trees, which the Americans had formed in the 
front. At this abstacle, the French halted, giving time to 
the provincialists to recover from their alarm, and prepare 
for defence. Their artillery, lately arrived, was served with 
effect; and, though the baron advanced firmly to the charge, 
his Indians and militia deserted him, and compelled him with 
his regulars to retreat. In the pursuit, which was close and 
ardent, Dieskau, mortally wounded and abandoned, was made 
prisoner. A scouting party, under the command of captains 
Folsom and M'Gennis, from fort Edward, fell upon the bag- 
gage of the enemy, and routed the guard; and immediately 
after engaged with the retreating French army. The enemy, 
attacked by a force whose number they did not know, aban- 
doned their baggage, and fled towards their posts on the lake. 
This repulse of Dieskau, though not at all followed up by 
Johnson, was magnified into a splendid victory. It served, 
in some measure, to relieve the effect of Braddock's defeat, 
and procured the commander a present of five thousand pounds 
sterling from the house of commons, and the title of baronet 
from the king. His army was soon after discharged, except 
six hundred men, retained to garrison fort Edward, and fort 
William Henry. The French seized and fortified Ticonde- 



roga. 



General Shirley, who had put himself at the head of the 
expedition against Niagara, and fort Frontignac, did not reach 
Oswego, on lake Ontario, until late in August. His force 
was composed of about thirteen hundred regulars, and a hun- 
dred and twenty militia and Indians. These he divided; 
embarking between six and seven hundred men for Niagara, 
and leaving the remainder to garrison Oswego. But he had 
scarcely embarked, before the rains set in with fury, and his 
Indians, discouraged, dispersed. It was aj)[)arcnt, that the 
season was now too far advanced for the accomplishment of 



1756] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 3\9 

his design, and, by the advice of a council of war, it was 
abandoned. A garrison of seven hundred men was left at 
Oswego, to complete the works at that place, and the general 
returned to Albany. 

The marauding parties of French and Indians hung on the 
frontiers during the winter, and in the month of January at- 
tacked the settlements on the Juniata river, murdering and 
scalping such of the inhabitants as did not escape, or were 
not made prisoners. To guard against these devastations, a 
chain of forts and block-houses were erected at an expense of 
eighty- five thousand pounds, by the province of Pennsylva- 
nia, along, the Kittatiny hills, from the river Delaware to 
the Maryland line, commanding the principal passes of the 
mountains, garrisoned with from twenty to seventy-five pro- 
vincials, as the situation and importance of the places re- 
spectively required. 

The militia bill did not compel the inhabitants to arm, but 
encouraged and protected their voluntary association for de- 
fence. To promote this, Franklin wrote and published a dia- 
logue, stating and answering the objections to a militia law, 
which had great effect, and he was prevailed Upon by the go- 
vernor to take charge of the north-western frontier, then 
much infested by the enemy. Full powers were given to 
him, with authority to commission such officers as he thought 
proper. His son, who had served in the army against Ca- 
nada, was his aid, and he, without difficulty, raised five hun- 
dred and sixty men. The troops were collected at Bethlehem, 
whence they marched to Gnadenhutten,on the Lehigh, twen- 
ty-five miles north-west of Bethlehem, which had been burned 
and wasted by the Indians. Bethlehem itself was prepared 
for defence by the Moravian brethren, who had surrounded 
it by a stockade, and had procured arms and ammunition from 
New York; even stones were collected between the windows 
of their high houses, for the women to throw upon the heads 
of assailants, and the brethren did regular garrison duty. 
These hostile preparations were remarkable, as the Mora- 
vians professed conscientious scruples against bearing arms, 
and hod obtained an act of parliament, exempting them from 



320 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [ \7 SH 

militia duty in the colonies. On being questioned by Frank- 
lin on this subject, their bishop, Spangenburg, replied, "That 
it was not one of their established principles; but that when 
they obtained that act, it was thought to be a principle among 
the people. On this occasion, they were surprised to find it 
adopted by very few." In the beginning of January, amid 
rain and frost, Franklin began to erect his forts, which were 
soon sufficient to resist the attacks of the Indians, unprovided 
with artillery. The progress of his labours was watched, 
but not interrupted, by the enemy; who, finding an attack 
would be unavailing, drew oif unobserved. He returned to 
the city, on the earnest request of his friends in the assembly, 
leaving colonel Clapham, a New England officer experienced 
in Indian warfare, in his command. The military association 
grew rapidly. Twelve hundred men were organized in the 
city, with a company of artillery; these were formed into a 
regiment, of which Franklin was elected colonel; and, such 
was his popularity, that the governor proposed to him to un- 
dertake an enterprise against fort du Quesne; but he, diffident 
of his talents for such a service, declined, and the project was 
altogether dropped.* 

Governor Shirley, having been appointed commander-in- 
chief, on his return to Albany, summoned a convention of 
the governors of the northern and middle colonies, to settle 
the plan of the ensuing campaign. This council resolved to 
raise ten thousand two hundred and fifty men ; to attack Ni- 
agara, that the communication between Canada and Louisiana 
might be cut off; to reduce Ticonderoga and Crown Point, 
that the command of lake Champlain might be obtained, and 
New York freed from the apprehension of invasion ; to be- 
siege fort du Quesne, on the Ohio, and to detach a body of 
forces by the river Kennebec, to alarm the capital of Canada. 
This plan was too extensive for the means which Shirley pos- 
sessed, and served only to dissipate the strength, which more 
concentrated efforts might have rendered serviceable. 

* Votes. Gazette. Tranklin's Life. Penn. Records. 



\756'j HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA, 32 1 

The Pennsylvania quota of troops was fifteen hundred; to 
raise which, extraordinary exertions were made. Great dis- 
satisfaction was given, by the encouragement held forth to 
indented servants and apprentices to enlist; since this colony 
had hitherto liberally aflbrded recruits in greater number than 
any otlier, and she now suffered for want of necessary la- 
bourers. But this was an additional calamity of the war, that 
was inevitable; neither the commander-in-chief, nor governor 
Morris, being at liberty to remedy the grievance. 

The excise on wine and spirits, Vt^hich had been imposed 
for ten years, being about to expire, a bill for its renewal was 
prepared by the assembly, and sent up for the governor's 
sanction. He proposed to amend it, by giving to the governor, 
or the president of the council, a joint power with the house, 
in the disposition of its proceeds; and communicated to the 
house his instructions, forbidding him to assent to any law 
raising money on the inhabitants of the province, without 
this provision. In these, the house discovered what they 
long believed the true cause of the governor's inveterate op- 
position to their several money bills. With their accustomed 
strength, they animadverted on their unconstitutionality, and 
their injurious effects on the province, and resolutely adhered 
to their bill. 

Notwithstanding the hostilities committed by the Dela- 
wares and Shawanese, war had not been formally declared 
against them by the province. Several members of the as- 
sembly had still confidence in the influence of the Six nations 
over these people, and that it would be exerted for the re- 
storation of peace. They moved the house, therefore, to ad- 
dress the governor, to suspend his declaration of war; but 
the motion, after much debate, was postponed indefinitely- 
The feelings of the Quakers, however, were too deeply in- 
terested in this matter, to suffer them to remain quiet whilst 
any means were unassayed to prevent an evil they so greatly 
dreaded. Many of them attended the house, and, in person, 
prayed that body to join them in a remonstrance against 
the declaration; but the assembly also postponed indefinitely 
41 



S22 HISTOKY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1756 

Ihc consideration of this petition. The Quakers also pre- 
pared a remonstrance to the governor, which contained at 
length their views in relation to war, and the provincial po- 
licy towards the Indians.(l) 

This appeal, though earnest and persuasive, did not stay 
the declaration of war, which was proclaimed by the governor, 
by the advice of his council — William Logan alone dissent- 
ing.* And we have to regret another instance of the deli- 
berate inhumanity which has distinguished the belligerents 
on the North American continent, in regard to their employ- 
ment of the Indians. The cruelty of the savage was stimu- 
lated by the promise of reward; and, by proclamation, a pre- 
mium was offered for the prisoners or scalps taken from the 
Indian enemy. This was rather an invitation to murder, than 
to take and protect prisoners. For, as the scalp was worth 
the living body, no considerations of religion or humanit}' 
induced the Indians to suffer the slightest inconvenience from 
their prisoners.! 

The disposition which the province thus displayed towards 
the Indians, alarmed even those who continued fiiendly. 
Tiiese had been gathered in from the Susquehannah to the 
city, lest they should be mistaken for enemies; and now, 
without assigning any reason, they suddenly resolved to join 
the Six nations. Their departure relieved the city of a con- 

(1) See note 2 Q, Appendix;. 

* Provincial Records, Harrisbiirg'. 

■}• See governor Clinton's Discourse before the New York Historical So- 
ciety, for a collection of instances of this execrable policy of the Europeans,, 
vindicated by lord Suffolk, the British secretary of state. 2 Col. His 
Soc. 37. 

It is highly honourable to the proprietaries, that they discountenanced 
this savage practice. In a letter from T. Penn, (July 10, 1756,) to governor 
Hamilton, he says, *' When you wrote me last, you regretted that you were 
not at liberty to declare war against the Delaware Indians, tliat you might 
attack them in their towns. This inconvenience is, since that time, re- 
moved, and 1 wish people enlisted in pay could have been found to go in 
omall parties and attack them, making prisoners of their wives and chil- 
dren, as a means to oblige them to sue for peace, rather than that rewards 
sliould be ofTered for scalps, especially of the women, as it encourages pri- 
vate murders " 



1756] HISTORY OF PENiN'SYLVANIA. 323 

siderable burden, yet care was taken that they should depail 
in good humour, and that their leaders, Scarroyady and Mon- 
tour, sliould be amply rewarded for their services. No op- 
portunity was lost by the assembly to propitiate the Indians. 
Cayenquiloquoas, an influential chief among the Six nations, 
had placed two sons at Philadelphia to be educated, who 
were hitherto supported at the joint expense of the province 
and proprietaries. But, the latter refusing further to contri- 
bute, the former assumed the whole charge. The services of 
Montour and Scarroyady merited the acknowledgments of the 
whites. At the risk of their lives, they had, in December, 
visited the several tribes of Indians seated along the Susque- 
liannah, with a view to persuade them from assuming arms; 
and thence proceeded, as the deputies of the Six nation In- 
dians residing in Pennsylvania, to the great council at Onon- 
dago, to represent the conduct of the Delawares and Shawa- 
nese to the confederated nations. In consequence of their re- 
monstrances, the council despatched a party of their warriors, 
consisting of deputies from each of the Six nations, to the Sus- 
quehannah, to enjoin the Delawares and Shawanese to desist 
from hostilities; and, in case of theii refusal, to declare war 
against them in the name of the Six nations.* 

The assembly, being convened on the tenth of May, were 
urged by a message from the governor, then on the frontiers, 
to new model the militia bill; which, not being compulsory, 
was found inadequate, even where danger was most pressing, 
and was much disliked by the military association in the 
city: he recommended an embargo on provisions and warlike 
stores, which had been adopted in New York, that supplies 
might not be furnished to the French forces lately despatched 
from Europe; and, by statements, which the assembly deemed 
exaggerated, of the condition of the inhabitants on the fron- 
tier counties, endeavoured to excite the assembly to further 
exertions for their defence. 

The house immediately passed an act, forbidding the ex- 
port of provisions and military stores until the fourth of 

* I'cnii. GazeUe. I'cuii. Uccords. 



324 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [ ' '' 5^J 

August; but tlic legislature of the territories passed a simi- 
lar act, extending the prohibition only to the seventh of July. 
Subsequently they extended it to the twentieth of July, and 
from thence so long as the legislature of Pennsylvania should 
continue the law for the like purpose, not beyond the twenty- 
second of October. To run the provincial parallel with the 
territorial act, and under pretence of continuing the embargo 
as long as New York and New Jersey, the governor con- 
vened the assembly on the nineteenth of July, at the most 
inconvenient season of the year, in the height of harvest. 
Against this measure, the merchants, owners, and masters of 
ships protested. And the assembly, indignant at the unrea- 
sonable, and, as they demonstrated, uimccessary summons, 
refused to legislate further upon the subject; having originally 
given to their act the same duration as those of New York 
and New Jersey. They profe^ssed themselves disposed to 
remedy the faults which might be pointed out in their militia 
law, but the labour of amendment was saved to them, by 
the repeal of the act by the king in council. But they did 
not pass silently by the governor's representation of the pro- 
vincial state of defence. Their frontier was belter defended 
than that of any colony on the continent: there were many 
associated companies ready, at the command of the governor, 
to march into the border counties, and the treasury was pro- 
vided with means to pay the necessary expenses. They 
recommended, however, that the governor should rather cm- 
ploy permanent troops, as a cheaper and more efficient spe- 
cies of force than the militia, for the frontier service. 

On the application of commodore Spry for seamen, the 
commissioners for disposing of the money granted to his ma- 
jesty's use, at the instance of the assembly, furnished a large 
and seasonable reinforcement, obtained by bour.ty from the 
province, and sent to the fleet at its expense. 

The house entered upon the preparation of another act,* 
for raising supplies, but they suspended their progress, on re- 
ceiving information that sir William Johnson, through the 

* June. 



17563 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 325 

mediation of the Six nations, had succeeded in disposing the 
Shavvanese and Delawarcs to an accommodation ; and that 
these tribes had promised to refrain from further hostilities. 
On the part of the province, the governor suspended the war 
against the Indians, by proclamation, which he sent to the 
Indians at Diogo, on the Susquehannah, and the assembly 
cheerfully supplied the means for holding a treaty of pacifi- 
cation ; and earnestly pressed upon the governor, for his 
sanction, a bill for regulating the trade and intercourse with 
the Indians, by which they expected to allay whatever re- 
sentment the Indians might still feel, and to provide against 
future discontents. 

The return of the Shavvanese and Delawares to pacific 
dispositions, was greatly promoted by the conduct of the 
principal Quakers. Israel Pemberton and others invited some 
friendly Indians to their tables, and, in a free and social con- 
verse with them, through the instrumentality of Conrad Wei- 
ser, awakened their earnest wishes for peace. These Indians 
were despatched with a message from Scarroyady to the hos- 
tile tribes, communicating the desires of the Quakers that 
they should return to their early affections. This conference 
was held with the permission of the governor; but, by the 
advice of his council, the subject was left entirely to the ma- 
nagement of Friends.* 

The governor, who had received no compensation from 
the house, since their first session after his arrival, believed 
the present gleam of peace afforded a proper opportunity of 
presenting his claims. He reminded the house that the trou- 
ble and expense of his administration had been greater than 
formerly; but they turned a deaf ear to his representations. 

The Quakers, members of the assembly, had continued to 
participate in the labours of the house, even on military sub- 
jects, and had debated and voted, some of them negatively, 
on the money and militia bills. Upon mature reflection, 
James Pemberton, William Callender, William Peters, Peter 
Worrall, and Francis Parvin, were convinced that the nature 

* Frovin. Records. 



326 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA, [1756 

■of the services required from them was incompatible with 
their religious principles, and therefore resigned their seats. 
This measure was novel, and occasioned considerable debate. 
By the constitution of the parliament of Great Britain, a mem- 
ber could not resign, but his acceptance of an office under the 
crown vacated his seat. But as this acceptance of an office 
was mere form, it was contended, that what might be done 
indirectly, was lawful to be done directly, and therefore the 
house accepted the resignation of the members, on condition 
that they delivered tiieir reasons to the speaker in writing; 
and directed writs to be issued for holding elections to supply 
the vacancies. The governor refused to sign the writs, 
whereupon the speaker directed them immediately to the 
sheriffs of the respective counties. 

Though France and England had been engaged in the 
warmest hostilities in America since 1754, the peace was not 
openly and avowedly broken in Europe until May, of the 
present year. The events in America in 1754 had deter- 
mined each to despatch considerable reinforcements to the 
colonies. The French, understanding that orders had been 
given to Boscawen to intercept their scjuadron, declared they 
would consider the first gun fired as a declaration of war, and 
their minister was recalled in consequence of an attack upon 
their fleet by that admiral. The British government instant- 
ly issued letters of marque, under which a large number of 
French merchant-ships, and seven thousand French sailors, 
were captured, a blow which had great effect upon the sub- 
sequent operations of the war in Europe and America.* 

In order to make the best use of the German and Swiss 
settlers in America, who, fiom their close union, and resi- 
dence near each other, formed a distinct people, preserving 
their original language and manners, authority was given by 
act of parliament to form a regiment, to be called the royal 
American regiment, of four battalions, each of one thousand 
men. As it was necessary that the subalterns of this regi- 
ment should speak German, this act authorized the appoint- 

* Smollet. Marshall. '' 



1756] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 327 

meat of foreign protestants who had served ahroad as officers 
or engineers, to rank as such in America only. 

The English ministry, either from want of confidence in 
the military talents of general Shirley, or that he might give 
them information on American affairs, removed him from 
the command, and summoned him to England. General 
Abercrombie succeeded him, and with him came out two 
additional regiments. But the chief direction of the war was 
soon after given to the earl of Loudon, who was appointed 
governor of. Virginia, and colonel of the royal American re- 
giment. Abercrombie sailed for America in March, but 
Loudon did not embark until May. The governor commu- 
nicated these changes to the assembly of Pennsylvania in 
June, with the royal instructions, that they should appro- 
priate the funds raised for the public service, under the direc- 
tion of the commander-in-chief; and, that the American res"!- 
ment might be speedily raised, to provide for the payment of 
the masters of such servants as should enlist. General Shir- 
ley, before his departure for Europe, addressed to the assem- 
bly a letter of acknowledgment for the services they had 
rendered towards the expedition to Crown Point, by their 
supply of provisions,'and clothing. They voted him a corn- 
plimentary reply, in which they observed, that "the justice 
he had formerly done the assemblies of the province in a let- 
ter to one of their members, and this fresh instance of the 
same disposition of mind, was becoming his established cha- 
racter, and was the more acceptable to them, as they had fre- 
quently, though in vain, sought that justice where they 
undoubtedly had aright to ask and expect it." 

Captain Newcastle, who had been sent to the Indians with 
a copy of the governor's proclamation, on his return, brought 
with him as far as Bethlehem a number of the Delaware In- 
dians, with their king, Teedyuscung, at their head, who 
waited there to enter upon a conference with the governor. 
He asked of the house four or five hundred pounds to pay the 
expenses of this treaty; but they granted him three hundred 
pounds only, and referred him to the proprietaries for such 
further sum as might be required. He accepted this suni 



328 HISTOKY OF VENNSYLVANIA. [l75fi 

with an ill grace, expressing his conviction that the proprie- 
taries would contribute nothing, antl declared his intention 
to remain at Bethlehem until his money should be expended, 
when he would mount his horse and ride to New York to 
meet lord Loudon. Attended by his council, and Isaac Nor- 
ris, Joseph Fox and William Edmonds, members of the as- 
sembly, the governor met the Indians at Easton, where their 
engagements with Sir William Johnson to lay down the 
hatchet were confirmed. 

Much pains were taken by the governor and his party to 
misrepresent the principles and conduct of the assembly, at 
the court of St. James. Beside the official correspondence of 
the governor, his friends wrote letters for publication in the 
London newspapers. One of these, in which the assembly, 
and the Quakers generally, of the province were treated with 
much freedom and great indecorum, attributed to William 
Smith, provost of the Philadelphia college, was published in 
the London " Evening Advertiser," and a copy thereof was- 
laid before the house. They voted that it contained wicked 
calumnies against numbers of sober and valuable inhabitants, 
and infamous, libellous, false, and scandalous assertions against 
the two branches of the legislature. Smith was arrested by 
the sergeant-at-arms, and being brought before the house, and 
questioned by the speaker, whether he had written a letter 
containing the matter extracted in the journals, gave at 
first an evasive answer, and finally refused to reply to the 
speaker's questions. He was permitted to withdraw, fur- 
nished, at his request, with a copy of the order to the ser- 
geant-at-arms, and of the questions of the speaker, and his 
answers. The house then resolved, that 'Miis replies were 
trifling and evasive, and plainly indicated him to be the 
author of the letter; but, that having matters of considerable 
moment before them at that time, and being able to stay but 
a little while together, further proceedings should be post- 
poned to a more convenient opportunity, and that he should 
be discharged from the custody of the scrgeant-at-arms." 
The want of proof to convict Smith of having written this 
letter, alone prevented the house from proceeding with seve- 



1756] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 329 

rity against him. The letter charged on Smith was printed 
in London, in a pamphlet form, and if, as the writer of a re- 
ply to it asserts, it contained the views of the proprietary 
party, the assembly was fully justified in their efforts to re- 
tain the power of the government in their own hands. This 
letter writer attributed to the Quaker policy not only the un- 
prepared state of the colony for war, but also the designs of 
the French, for occupying and garrisoning the western coun- 
try; and he proposed to remedy all the evils of which he 
complained, by stripping the Quakers, and their partisans, 
the Germans, of political influence. He suggested that an 
act of parliament should be passed, enacting, 1, That all mem- 
bers of assembly should take the oaths of allegiance, and sub- 
scribe a declaration that they would not refuse to defend their 
country against all his majesty's enemies; 2, That the right 
of the Germans to vote for members of assembly, should be 
suspended until they had acquired a competent knowledge of 
the English language and provincial constitution; 3, That 
protestants, ministers, and school-masters, should be settled 
among them, to reduce them into regular congregations; to 
instruct them in the natures of free government, the purity 
and value of the protestant faith; and to bind them to the 
province by a common language, and the consciousness of a 
common interest; 4, That all law writings should be void 
unless made in the English tongue; 5, That no newspapers, 
almanacks, or other periodical paper, written in a foreign lan- 
guage, should be printed or published, unless accompanied by 
an English version ; and,Thatfurther importations of Germans 
should be proJiibited. And, in a second letter, supplementary 
to the first, the author proposed to give to the executive the 
power of dissolving the legislature, and of fixing at pleasure 
the day for the election of representatives.* 

On the meeting of the assembly in August, the governor 
asked for further supplies of money, without which he could 
no longer retain the troops in service, now more especially 
necessary, since the late audacity of the enemy, who had 

* rolilical Pamphlets. 
42 



330 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l756 

captured fort Granville on the Juniata river, was wasting the 
country west of the Susquehannah, and driving the inhabi- 
tants upon the interior settlements. Much of this picture of 
distress, the assembly declared, was drawn from fancy, and 
was part of the system adopted by the governor to magnify 
his own vigilance, and their neglect. He felt delight, they 
said, in the contrast of his own glowing descriptions, and the 
cool and cautious policy of the assembly. But the distress of 
the country could scarce be painted in colours too vivid. In 
the preceding year the country west of the Susquehannah 
possessed three thousand men fit to bear arms, and now, 
exclusive of the provincial forces, there were not a hundred; 
fear having driven the greater part into the interior of the 
province. The house immediately sent the governor a bill 
for raising forty thousand pounds, but as they adhered to their 
determination of taxing the proprietary estates, he refused to 
pass it. Another long and wordy contest was about to com- 
mence, when Mr. Morris was superseded by the arrival of 
governor Denny. 

Governor Morris was bred a lawyer, was a man of educa- 
tion, and gentlemanly manners, eloquent, and fond of dispu- 
tation. He contended, in argument, for victory, against the 
plain dictates of common sense; and fancied that his own 
fluency was an overmatch for the strength and point of Frank- 
lin, who was the writer and champion of the assembly; and 
whom, in his angry mood, he accused, to the ministry, of 
using his office of postmaster-general to obstruct the king's 
service, and to the proprietaries, of the design of wresting 
from them the government.* Had he been at liberty to con- 
sult his own understanding, he would have conciliated, rather 
than provoked, the assembly. But, fettered by his instruc- 
tions, which he was required, too, to keep concealed, he was 
frequently compelled to resort to pretences for his refusal to 
sanction the acts of the house, which would not bear handling; 
and, for the want of argument, fell into reproaches and in- 

* Morris' letters in Provincial Records. 



1756] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 331 

vectives, in the return of which the house were more suc- 
cessful, because they had the better cause. He was active in 
the performance of his executive duties, and supported the 
measures of general Braddock with energy and effect. 

During his administration, no laws were enacted, which 
did not relate to the prosecution of the war, or defence of 
the province; the principal were the non-importation and 
embargo laws, and an act extending so much of the mutiny 
act as related to the quartering and billeting of soldiers, and 
payment of their quarters. 

Governor Morris returned to East Jersey, where he held 
the office of chief justice for many years, and died in Janu- 
ary, 1764.* 

* Penn. Gazette. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Favourable reception of governor Denny Communicates 

the proprietary instructions- •••Excise- •••Resolutions of the 
assembly on the proprietary instructions- •••Franklin's re- 
port thereon^^-^Petitions to the king^^^^Hearing before the 

council"««Militia law condemned The conduct of the 

Quakers reproved^ •• •Their difficulties^ •• •Embargo^ •• •Quar- 
tering of troops^'-'Provincial forces'-«^Money bill«-"Dis- 
putes"«'House resolve to send commissioners to England 

• •••Franklin and Norris chosen- "-Instruction to commis- 
sioners-««-Military operations--«-Grant of money by parlia- 
ment to New^ England colonieS"«-Troops raised in Pennsyl- 
vania- •••Council of governors convened by lord Loudon- ••• 
Plan for the campaign- -"Failure of the expedition against 
Louisburg' "-Montcalm captures Ticonderoga and Crown 

Point- ---New levy of troops by the province Affair of 

William Moore- •••Singular resolutions of the assembly-"* 

Thomas Leech elected speaker Financial estimate and 

revenue*^--Apathy of the province- -"Spirit of Pitt"«-Plan 
of campaign Abercrombie repulsed from Ticonderoga 

• •"Captures Frontignac-"«Treaty with the Indians^^"Pro- 
vincial forces^ • •Relaxation of the governor's opposition to tax 
the proprietary estates^^ •Altercation between the governor 
and provincial commissioners^ ••Progress of general Forbes 

• "•Capture of fort Du Quesne — Provincial measures-^^^ 
Indian treaty — Plan of campaign^^- -Forts and fleet of the 

French on Champlain captured Niagara taken^'-^Siege 

of Quebec'^^^Rejoicings on its capture — Proceedings and 
success of Mr. Franklin* ••Re-appointmcnt of James Hamil- 
ton deputy-governor. 

TuE arrival of governor Denny was hailed by the assem- 
bly with great joy.* With the change of governors, they 

* August 20, 1756. 



17563 HISTOUY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 333 

flattered themselves there would be a change of measures; 
and resolved that whatever favourable disposition he might 
have towards them, should not be chilled by inattention on 
their part. They not only cordially accepted an invitation 
to a public entertainment prepared for him by the city cor- 
poration, but gave him a splendid fete at the state house, to 
which the former governor, the mayor and corporation, civil 
and military officers, clergy, and strangers were invited. They 
congratulated him upon his accession to the government, 
which they trusted would be as happy to the province as they 
had resolved to make it easy and comfortable to himself. 
And, in testimony of their sincerity, they, with this propi- 
tiatory address, presented him the sum of six hundred pounds. 
But they were not long deceived by their hopes in their 
new governor. That they might not legislate in vain, on sub- 
jects connected with the proprietary interests, they frankly 
demanded a copy of his instructions in this particular, which 
he as frankly gave. From these it appeared, 1, That, to de- 
prive the assembly of the sole power to dispose of the pro- 
vincial funds, he was forbidden to assent to any bill, emitting, 
re-emitting, or continuing, the paper currency, or raising 
money by excise or otherwise, that did not provide for the 
special appropriation of the proceeds, or place them at the 
disposition of the governor and assembly jointly : 2, That he 
was forbidden to pass any bill increasing the paper currency 
more than forty thousand pounds, or to confirm the existing 
issues, unless provision were made for the payment of the 
proprietary rents in sterling money, or by an equivalent, si- 
milar to that given by the 12lh of his majesty's reign: 3, 
That he was prohibited to assent to any act imposing a tax 
on real or personal estate, longer than one year, and whose 
tenor was not as near as possible to the annual tax laws of 
England; and which did not assess the annual value only of 
the real, and the capital of the personal, estate, by a mode of 
assessment prescribed in the bill, exempting unoccupied and 
unimproved lands, and proprietary quit-rents, and not exceed- 
ing in amount four shillings per annum, on the yearly value 



334 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l756 

of estates. Permission, however, was given to subject to 
taxation, the proprietary manors or lands actually leased for 
lives or years, provided the tax was made payable by the 
tenants, to be deducted from their rents only when above 
twenty shillings, and that it should in no case be a lien upon 
the land. In these instructions, the house beheld the most 
serious impediments to the necessary supplies, and earnestly 
entreated the governor to say, whether he would adhere to 
them, should the plans they might submit have the approba- 
tion of his own judgment. He replied, that he could not re- 
cede from them without risking his honour and fortune. 

The assembly now turned themselves to the excise, as the 
only eligible mode of raising money. It had hitherto pro- 
duced annually three thousand pounds, and a future product 
of like amount was calculated upon, to redeem, in twenty 
years, an issue of bills of sixty thousand pounds, of which 
the house designed to appropriate ten thousand pounds to the 
general American fund; ten thousand to the payment of the 
debts contracted for provisions for Braddock, and for the 
troops at Crown Point, and other services; and the residue 
to be disposed of for the king's use, under the direction of 
a committee of the house, with the consent and approbation 
of the governor. The control of the product of the excise, 
beyond three thousand pounds per annum, was reserved to 
the assembly alone. The governor objected to the length of 
the term, and to every appropriation in the bill, except that 
which was made to the commissioners and himself; and, 
after two conferences, he answered a long argumentative re- 
monstrance with the laconic declaration, " That he would not 
pass the bill; and, there being none to judge between him 
and them in the province, he would immediately transmit his 
reasons to his majestJ^" 

On receipt of this message, the house resolved that the pro- 
prietary instructions were arbitrary, unjust, an infraction of 
their charter, and a violation of their rights as English subjects; 
that their excise bill was similar to former laws, approved by 
the king, and was not inconsistent with their duty to the 
crown, or with the rights of the proprietaries; that the right 



1756]] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 335 

of the assembly to grant supplies under such conditions as 
they deemed proper for the public service, was an essential 
part of their constitution; that the frivolous objections of the 
governor were intended to embarrass the representatives of 
the people, to prevent them from providing effectually for 
the defence of the country, and thereby to render them 
odious to their sovereign, and to their fellow subjects ; that 
the additional restrictions now imposed on the passage of 
money bills were tyrannical, cruel, and oppressive to the 
people, and injurious to the king's service; since, should the 
assembly adhere to their rights, the province must be thrown 
into confusion, abandoned to the enemy, and lost to the 
crown; therefore, reserving in full extent their rights on 
future occasions, and protesting against the proprietary in- 
structions and prohibitions, they, in duty to the king, and 
in compassion to their suffering fellow subjects, in humble, 
but full confidence of the justice of his majesty and the British 
parliament, waived their rights on the present occasion pnly, 
and prepared a new bill conformably with the proprietary 
instructions, granting a sum of money to the king's use. This 
bill provided for striking thirty thousand pounds in bills of 
credit, to be sunk by the excise within ten years, for the pay- 
ment of the debts contracted by the commissioners of the 
sixty thousand pounds act, and the application of the balance 
by a committee of the house, with the approbation of the 
governor. This act received the sanction of the governor. 

Benjamin Franklin, from the committee to whom the pro- 
prietary instructions were submitted, made a report imme- 
diately after the passage of the excise law, in which the 
justice and policy of these instructions were examined with 
great acumen and force. The jealousy of the power reserved 
by the assembly over the public ftmds was ascribed to the 
desire of the proprietaries to convert the occasional presents 
made by the house to their lieutenants, into a permanent 
salary; because, the governors, having a control over the 
treasury, would make their own terms on the passage of a 
money bill. The demand of the propiietary rents at the cur- 
rent rate of exchange was declared extortionate, because a 



336 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l756 

bill of exchanpje, besides the difference of exchange, included 
freight, commissions, and insurance, on the transport of its 
value, and was in fact a payment by the people of their rents 
in London. The large sums remitted to the proprietaries, 
without return, tended to raise the exchange, and enabled 
them to enhance or depress its rate at pleasure. The depre- 
ciation of money was a common calamity, and should be 
borne by the proprietaries in common with the people, and any 
exemption they had extorted as the purchase of a law could 
form no precedent for future legislation. The immunity from 
taxation, claimed by the proprietaries, was supported by a 
deceptive statement of facts, and sophistical argumentation. 
It was assumed that their unsettled lands produced no annual 
profit. This was true only of wild tracts; but their located 
tracts and manors were of choice quality, selected by the pro- 
prietary surveyors, before the land office was opened, and 
retained for a market until the surrounding lands were sold 
and settled. Their value was thus so prodigiously increased 
that they were now worth, on an average, three hundred 
pounds the hundred acres, though originally estimated only 
at fifteen pounds the hundred. The Conestoga manor was 
cited as an instance of this great and progressive increase of 
value. In 1726, lands in that vicinity, of the first quality, 
were sold at forty pounds the hundred. The manor contain- 
ing seventeen thousand acres was then laid out and reserved; 
and, though not even now cultivated, the lands were estimat- 
ed, and held at three hundred and fifty pounds the hundred, 
near eight hundred per cent, advance. *' Can an estate," ex- 
claimed the committee, " thus producing twenty-five per cent, 
per annum on the prime cost, be called an estate yielding no 
annual profit?" " And yet," they continued, '■' the governor 
is bound to observe and enforce these unjust pretensions, and 
must see the king's province perish before his eyes rather 
than deviate from them a single tittle. This we have expe- 
rienced within a few days, when advantage being cruelly 
taken of our present unhappy situation, the prostrate condi- 
tion of our bleeding country, the knife of the savages at her 
throat, our soldiers ready to mutiny for want of pay and ne- 



1756] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 337 

cessaries, our people flying in despair from tiie frontier for 
want of protection, the assembly \vas compelled (like Solo- 
mon's true mother) to waive her right, to alter our money 
bills, abridge our free grant to the crown by one-half, and, 
in short, to receive and enact a law not agreeable to our 
judgments, but such as was made for us by proprietary in- 
structions, and the will and pleasure of the governor's council; 
whereby our constitution and the liberties of our country are 
wounded in the most essential part, and even violated and 
destroyed." The proprietaries had ventured to charge the 
assembly with the design to tax their estates disproportion- 
ately, and to relieve the people by laying upon them the 
greater portion of the burden. To this charge the committee 
returned the following retort courteous. "They had as lit- 
tle inclinatiori as authority io wrong them. They have not, 
it seems, authority enough to oblige them to ^o justice. As 
to their Inclination, they bear, every one of them, and main- 
tain the character of honest men. When the proprietaries shall 
be truly willing to bear an equitable part of the public bur- 
den; when they shall renounce their exorbitant demand of 
rent as the exchange shall then be; make restitution of the 
money which they have exacted from the assemblies of this 
province, and sincerely repent of their extortion, they may 
then, and not till then, have some claim to the same noble 
titled 

Governor Morris had procured and forwarded to London 
a petition of sundry inhabitants of Pennsylvania, to the king, 
representing the defenceless state of the province, and pray- 
ing his interposition. The petitioners were heard before a 
committee of the privy council, by Mr. Paris, their agent, 
and Messrs. Yorke and Forrester, his counsel, and the assem- 
bly by Messrs. Sharp, Henly, and Pratt. The committee 
condemned the conduct of the assembly in relation to public 
defence since the year 1742, and declared, that their con- 
struction of their charter, by which they claimed exemption 
from military service, and imposed the duty of protecting the 
province solely upon the proprietaries, was altogether erro- 
neous; and that if such were the duty of the proprietaries, 
43 



338 HisTOUY or Pennsylvania. [175G 

their power, however great in words, was inefficient, unless 
supported by compulsory militia laws, and proper and con- 
stitutional appropriations of money for military purposes. " It 
was true," they said, " the counsel of the assembly had in- 
sisted that proper aid had been given by a militia law, and 
by the provision of adequate funds. But the militia law was 
in every respect the most improper and inadequate that could 
have been framed, and was calculated rather to exempt per- 
sons from military services, than to promote and encourage 
them. It prescribed no penalty to compel the people to asso- 
ciate in defence of their country, op to oblige such as were 
conscientiously scrupulous of bearing arms, to procure sub- 
stitutes, or provide for the forces which the executive 
might organize. The officers were elective by ballot, and no 
means were adopted to enforce subordination. It forbade the 
enlistment of persons under the age of twenty-one years, the 
march of the men more than three days' journey from the 
inhabited parts of the province, and their detention in garri- 
son for more than three weeks. The preamble of the act 
tended to destroy what little was valuable in the law, by de- 
claring that the majority of the assembly was principled 
against bearing arms, and that a compulsory law for that pur- 
pose was unconstitutional, and a breach of the privileges of 
the people." "Money," they continued, "had been appro- 
priated, and placed in the hands of a committee of the house, 
for supplying friendly Indians, holding of treaties, relieving 
distressed settlers, who have been driven from their lands, 
and other purposes for the king's use; but not a word was 
said of military service. And, though it was contended that 
the words "other purposes" admitted of such construction, 
it was not to be presumed that the committee, who had the 
dii-ection of the money, part of, and appointed by the assem- 
bly principled against military service, would so construe 
them. 

From these views'j the board were of opinion that "the le- 
gislature of Pennsylvania, as of every other country, was 
bound, by the original compact of government, to support 
such government an'd its subjects; that the measures intended 



1756] HISTORY OF PENNSYJ\AN1A 339 

by the assembly for that purpose were improper, inadequate, 
and ineffectual ; and that there was no cause to hope for other 
measures, whilst the majority of the assembly consisted of 
persons whose avowed principles were against military ser- 
vices; who, though not a sixth part of the inhabitants of the 
province, were, contrary to the principles, the policy, and 
the practice of the mother country, admitted to hold offices 
of trust and profit, and to sit in the assembly without their 
allegiance being secured by the sanction of an oath." This 
report was adopted by the privy council, and a copy directed 
to be sent to the province. 

The Quakers had been greatly exercised by their labours 
in the assembly. In declining to exert themselves to pro- 
cure an election, they were willing to think they had done 
all that was necessary to avoid a situation incompatible with 
their principles, and they suffered themselves to be returned, 
especially by the Germans, who sought in their religious 
scruples a protection against taxes and military labours. But, 
whatever their consciences might dictate, they saw that men 
and money were absolutely necessary to resist the enemy, 
and were, for a season, content to vote for money bills, un- 
equivocally intended to maintain the war, because the special 
object was not expressly designated, and to enact a militia 
law, permitting, but not compelling, the people to bear arms, 
though it was avowedly designed to render the military 
force of the country more effectual. But these things were 
not done without some wincing. The Quakers protested 
against the payment of war taxes, and some Friends, mem- 
bers of the house, entered their dissent on its journals against 
the money bills, and finally resigned their seats; some de- 
clined a re-election, while others still flattered themselves to 
reconcile their consciences with the measures of the assem- 
bly. But, when the opinions of the ministry, 'on the conduct 
of the Quakers, were communicated to the house, a portion 
of these deemed it prudent to retire; and writs were issued 
for filling the places of Mahlon Kirkbride, William Iloge, 
Peter Dicks, and Nathaniel Peanock. 



340 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [17 56 

At the instance of lord Loudon, pursuant to ro3'al instruc- 
tions, governor Denny propo^cd to the assembly to lay a 
general embargo. But this measure was so strenuously 
opposed by the merchants, and by agents from the West 
Indies, that the house refused to adopt it, unless with such 
modifications as the governor deemed fatal to the object. 
But, by orders of the ministry, an embargo was laid on all 
vessels loaded with provisions, not bound to any other co- 
lony. Vessels thus destined were permitted to sail, on bond 
given to land the cargo at the port designated in the clearance. 
This restriction was continued for a long time, and was griev- 
ously complained of by the merchants, and protested against 
by the assembly, in vain. The stock of provisions was greatly 
accumulated, and the cargoes of forty vessels, loaded at the 
wharves, were perishing, whilst Great Britain, Ireland, and 
the West Indies, were suffering for food. The assembly had 
provided by law for quartering troops upon the inn-keepers 
at fixed rates; but, some difficulties occurring in obtaining 
proper accommodation for all the soldiers, though the num- 
ber of inn-keepers in the city alone amounted to one hundred 
and seventeen, the governor billeted them upon the private 
houses. This measure gave great offence to the assembly, 
who remonstrated against it; and, with much difficulty, pro- 
cured the troops to be quartered according to law. The 
house prepared a new militia bill, by which all the male in- 
habitants were subjected to military duty, commutable for a 
fine, recoverable in the ordinary courts of justice. The offi- 
cers, however, were still elective, for which reason the go- 
vernor objected to the bill. He also required that persons 
alleging conscientious scruples against bearing arms, should 
appear in open court, and declare to what society they be- 
longed; that they were truly and religiously opposed to 
war; and that a court-martial should be authorized to punish 
by death or otherwise, as was provided by the English mi- 
litia bill. But the house, unwilling to strengthen the hands 
of the executive, by giving him the appointment of the offi- 
cers, and to lodge such powers in courts-martial, refused to 
rc-modcl ihcir !><" 



1756] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 341 

The necessity of a militia law was, in a great measure, ob- 
viated, by the forces raised by the governor and provincial 
commissioners. They consisted of twenty- five companies, 
amounting to fourteen hundred men. Eight companies, un- 
der the command of major James Burd, called the Augusta 
regiment, were stationed at fort Augusta: eight companies 
on the west side of the Susquehannah, commanded by lieute- 
nant-colonel Armstrong, called the second battalion of the 
Pennsylvania regiment, were thus divided — two companies 
at fort Lyttleton, on Aughwick creek, which empties into the 
Juniata river; two companies on Conococheague creek, which 
communicates with the Potomac; two companies at fort 
Morris, in Shippensburg, and two companies at Carlisle: 
nine companies, called the second battalion of the Pennsyl- 
vania regiment, commanded by lieutenant-colonel Conrad 
Weiser, were thus distributed — one company at fort Au- 
gusta ; one at Hunter's mill, seven miles above Harrisburg, 
on the Susquehannah ; one half company on the Swatara, at 
the foot of the North mountain; one company and a-half at 
fort Henry, close to the gap of the mountain, called the To- 
thea gap; one company at fort William, near the forks of 
the Schuylkill river, six miles beyond the mountain; one com- 
pany at fort Allen, at Gnadenhutten, on the Lehigh; the other 
three companies were scattered between the rivers Lehigh 
and Delaware, at the disposition of the captains, some at 
farm-houses, others at mills, from three to twenty in a place. 
These forces, however, were indifferently provided with arms 
and ammunition. At fort Augusta, there were eight cannon, 
but only one hundred and four round shot, and a small quan- 
tity of grape. The Augusta regiment, and Armstrong's bat- 
talion, had once been supplied with arms, but they were much 
lessened by desertion, or injured by the falling of the men, 
in crossing the mountains, whilst ranging, and could not be 
repaired for want of armourers. Even flints were wanting; 
none of the troops having any that could be depended upon. 
In Weiser's battalion, there were one hundred and ninety 
good muskets, and one hundred and thirty-one out of order; 
the rest had been supplied by the men, on the promise ■"'' a 



342 



IllSlORY OK PENNSYLVANIA. {^1756 



half dollar per month for their use, who refused to employ 
Ihcm on that allowance being withdrawn. Burd'sand Arm- 
strong's regiments were duly supplied with provisions by 
contractors ; but Weiser's battalion had as many victuallers 
as companies; their provisions were carelessly and irregularly 
delivered, and their posts constantly endangered by famine. 
The officers were chiefly German, without education or ex- 
perience, who injured the service, by disregard of discipline 
and subordination. The annual expense of this whole force 
was sixty-four thousand six hundred and fifty-five pounds, for 
pay and provisions, independent of incidental charges.* The 
assembly had endeavoured, through governor Morris, to pro- 
cure arms from England; but their supply was delayed, in 
consequence of Die limited stock of the government. After 
considerable exertion on the part of the proprietaries, some 
brass and other cannon were obtained from the national arse- 
nals at stipulated prices, and a quantity of fusees and muskets 
were purchased from the manufacturers, and shipped for the 

province.! 

Before governor Morris was superseded, he concerted with 

colonel Armstrong an expedition against the Indian town of 
Kittanning, on the Allegheny, about twetity-five miles above 
Pittsburg, the strong hold of captains Jacobs and Shingas, the 
most active Indian chiefs, and from whence they distributed 
their war parties along the frontier. On the arrival of go- 
vernor Denny, Morris communicated the plan of this enter- 
prise to him and his council. 

Colonel Armstrong marched from fort Shirley on the thir- 



s. d. 



s. d. 



♦ •"! 



3 lieutenant. 2 chaplains at 6 8 per day. 

colonels at 17 per day. 2 surgeons at 7 6 

3 majors at 15 „ 1 commissary of 

25 captains at 10 „ stores at 10 

25 licutcnanls at 5 6 „ 1 commissary of 



25 ensigns at 



4 musters and 



50 sergeants at 2 „ paymaster at 10 

50 corporals at 1 8 „ Provision for 

25 drummers at 1 8 „ ^OO men al 5 per week. 

1200 privates at 45 Opermontli. 

I Letter of T. Pcnn. 



IT.'je] HISTORY OF PF.NNSYl.VANIA. ."43 

tieth of August, with three hundred men, having with him, be- 
side other officers, captains Hamilton, Mercer, Ward and Pot- 
ter. On the second of September he joined an advance party 
at the Beaver dams, near Frankstown. Oa the seventh, in the 
evening, within six miles of Kittanning, the scouts discover- 
ed a fire in the road, and, around it, as they reported, three, 
or, at most, four Indians. It was deemed prudent not to 
attack this parfy; but lest some of them should escape and 
alarm the town, lieutenant Hogg, and twelve men, were left 
to watch them, with orders to fall upon them at day-break. 
The main body, making a circuit, proceeded to the village. 
Guided by the whooping of the Indians at a dance, the army 
approached the place by the river, about one hundred 
perches below the town, at three o'clock in the morning, 
near a cornfield, in which a number of the enemy were 
lodged, out of their cabins, on account of the heat of the 
weather. As soon as the dawn of day made the town visible 
the troops attacked it through the cornfield, killing several of 
the enemy. Captain Jacobs, their principal chief, sounded 
the war-whoop, and defended his house bravely through loop- 
holes, in the logs ; and the Indians generally refused quarter, 
which was ofiered them, declaring that they were men, and 
would not be prisoners. Colonel Armstrong, who had re- 
ceived a musket ball in his shoulder, ordered their houses to 
be set on fire, over their heads. Again the Indians were 
required to surrender, and again refused; one of them declar- 
ing he did not care for death, as he could kill four or five 
before he died, and as the heat approached, some of them 
began to sing. Others burst from their houses, and at- 
tempted to reach the river, but were instantly shot down. 
Captain Jacobs, in getting out of a window, was shot, as also 
a squaw, and a lad called the king's son. The Indians had a 
number of small arms in their houses loaded, which went off 
in quick succession as the fire came to them; and quantities 
of gunpowder, which were stored in every house, blew up 
from time to time, throwing some of the bodies of the enemy 
a great height in the air. A party of Indians on the opposite 
side of the river fired on the troops, and were seen to cross 



344 HISTORY OF I'KNNSYLVAMA. [^^^^^ 

the river at a distance, as if to surround them; but they con- 
tented themselves with collecting some horses which were 
near the town to carry off their wounded, and then retreated 
without attempting to take from the cornfield those who were 
killed there in the beginning of the action. Several of the 
enemy were killed in the river as they attempted to escape 
by fording it, and between thirty and forty in the whole 
were destroyed. Eleven English prisoners were released, 
who informed thnt, besides the powder, of which the Indians 
boasted they had enough for ten years' war with the English, 
there was a great quantity of goods burnt, which the French 
had presented to them but ten days before; that two batteaux 
of French Inilians were to join captain Jacobs, to make an 
attack upon fort Shirley, and that twent3'^-four warriors had 
set out before them on the preceding evening. These proved 
to be the party discovered around the fire, as the troops ap- 
proached Kittanning. Pursuant to his orders, and relying 
upon the report made by the scouts, lieutenant Hogg had 
attacked them, and killed three at the first fire. He, how- 
ever, found them too strong for his force, and having lost 
some of his best men, the others fled, leaving him wounded, 
overlooked by the enemy in their pursuit of the fugitives. 
He was saved by the army on their return. Captain, after- 
wards general Mercer, was wounded in the action at Kittan- 
ning, but was carried off safely by his men.* 

The corporation of Philadelphia, on occasion of this victory, 
on the fifth of January, 1757, addressed a complimentary let- 
ter to colonel Armstrong, thanking him and his officers for 
their gallant conduct, and presented him with a piece of plate. 
A medal was also struck, having for device, an officer fol- 
lowed by two soldiers: the officer pointing to a soldier shoot- 
ing from behind a tree, and an Indian prostrate before him. 
In the back ground Indian houses in flames. Legend, Kittan- 
ning destroyed by colonel Armstrong, September the eighth, 
1756. Reverse Device. Thearmsof the corporation. jLe^enrf, 
The gift of the corporation of Philadelphia. 

* Penn. Gazette. I'rov. Heconls. 



I757J HISTOKY OF i'KNNSYl.VANIA. 34S 

The destruction of the town of Kittannhig, and llie Indian 
families there, was a severe stroke on the savages. Hitherto 
the Englisli had not assailed them in their towns, and they 
fancied that they would not venture to approach them. But 
now, though urged by an unquenchable thirst of vengeance 
to retaliate the blow they had received, they dreaded, that in 
their absence on war parlies, their wigwams might be reduced 
to ashes. Such of them as i)elonged to Kittanning, and had 
escaped the carnage, refused to settle again on the east of fort 
du Quesne, and resolved to place that fortress and the French 
garrison between them and the English. 

Further funds having become necessary, the house pre- 
pared a bill for levying one hundred thousand pounds upon 
all estates, real and personal: the governor again objected his 
instructions against including the proprietary estates, and the 
house again combatted them in vain, the necessities of the 
province wringing from them a reluctant assent to exempt 
these estates from taxation. But, though compelled by dan- 
ger and distress to pass the bill against their better judgment, 
the assembly were not disposed to suffer quietly the incqualit}' 
which had thus been created between the proprietaries and 
their fellow subjects. They determined to send commis- 
sioners to England to lay their grievances before the tlirone, 
and to solicit redress. Messrs. Norris and Franklin were 
selected for this purpose; the departure of the former being 
delayed by his private affairs, and the state of his health, it 
was resolved that the latter should proceed as general agent 
of the province; and the sum of fifteen hundred pounds was 
allowed him for liis expenses. This appointment was made 
before the passage of the last money bill, and Franklin waited, 
at the request of lord Loudon, that he might attend a confe- 
rence with the governor, designee^ by that nobleman to ac- 
commodate the differences between him and the assembly. 
Against the arguments of Franklin, the governor pleaded his 
instructions, the bond he had given to observe them, and his 
ruin if he disobeyed, but was disposed to hazard himself if his 
lordship would advise it. liut this his lordship would not do. 
Franklin was detained some time at New Yorlc by the inde- 
44 



345 msruRY oi »'k,\NSTLVAMA. [175T 

eisionand procraslination of this nohleman, which delayed the 
sailing of the packets for near two months.* He arrived in 
London on the twenty-seventh of July, 1757. His instruc- 
tions were based chiefly upon the report of the committee to 
the assembly, which we have already noticed, and embraced 
five distinct heads. 1, The illegal restrictions on the lieutenant- 
governors: 2, Particular restraints upon the passage of money 
bills, contrary to the privileges of the assembly, who had a 
right to grant aids and supplies to his majesty, and to be the 
sole judges of the measure, manner, and time of raising and 
granting them: 3, The attempts of the proprietary to control 
the assembly in disposing of the money arising from the pub- 
lic loans and excise: 4, Their refusal to suffer their located, 
unimproved, and unoccu[)ied lands, quit-rents, fines, and pur- 
chase monies on interest, the much greater part of their enor- 
mous estates in the colony, to be taxed: and 5, The appoint- 
ment of the judges of the supreme court, and courts of 
common pleas, during pleasure, contrary to the laws of Eng- 
land, and the practice under William Penn in the province. 
He was also instructed to represent the injury the colony 
sustained by the enlistment of servants, and the maintainance 
of a frontier barrier, protecting Maryland, the counties on 
Delaware, and New Jersey, without aid from either. 

Of the many enterprises resolved upon by general Shirley 
and his council of governors, for 1756, none were successful, 
and several were unattempted. Notwithstanding the exer- 
tions in the northern provinces, the recruiting service moved 
heavily. Much time was lost by the change of commanders, 
and the season for military operations was nearly half spent 
before the arrival of lord Loudon. No preparations were 
made to attack fort Du Quesne. The colonies of Virginia, 
Maryland, and Pennsylvania, so far from pursuing oflensive 
measures, were unable to protect themselves. The enter- 
prise against Ticonderoga and Crown Point was confided to 
general Winslow, whose reputation and influence had been 
greatly increased by his conduct during the last campaign in 

* Franklin's Life. 



1757] HISTOUT OF PENNSYLVANIA, 347 

Nova Scotia. Seven thousand provincialists were assembled in 
the vicinity of lake George, but this force was reduced by sub- 
traction of the necessary troops for the garrisons in the rear. 
Winslow refused to proceed with this army without reinforce- 
ments; and, though he was soon after joined by a body of British 
troops under general Abercrombie, he was much delayed by 
disputes, with respect to rank, the effect of this junction. The 
regulations of the crown, on this subject, had given great 
offence in America; and such was the reluctance of the pro- 
vincialists to serve under British officers, that, in the present 
case, in order to enable the troops to act separately, the Ame- 
ricans were withdrawn from the garrisons to the army, and 
their places supplied by the British forces. The expedilion 
to Ontario was rendered hopeless, by the successes of the 
French under Montcalm, who had captured the forts of On- 
tario and Oswego, situate on either side of the Onondago 
river, at its junction with the lake; and these forts, placed 
in the country of the Five nations, he, with sound policy, 
destroyed in their presence. 

Discouraged and disconcerted by this event, Loudon relin- 
quished all offensive operations, and endeavoured to secure 
himself from further loss, by disposing his troops for the 
protection of the frontiers; and, though renewed efforts were 
made to raise additional forces among the northern colonies, 
and these etlorts were aided by the payment of one hundred 
and fifteen thousand pounds sterling by the mother country, 
for the extraordinary expenses of the preceding year, they 
were all rendered abortive by the appearance of the small- 
pox at Albany. The troops on their march from New Eng- 
land, and the army at lake George, were panic-struck, by 
the irruption of an enemy more dreadful than the French ; 
and it was found necessary to garrison all the posts with Bri- 
tish troops, and to discharge all the provincialists, excepting 
a regiment raised in New York. "Thus terminated, for a 
second time, in defeat and utter disappointment, the sanguine 
hopes formed by the colonists, of a brilliant and successful 
campaign. Much labour had been employed, and money ex- 
pended, in collecting by land from a great distance, troops. 



343 iiisTOHY OK rKNr.sYi.VANiA. [1757 

provisions, and military stores at Albany, the place of gene- 
ral rendezvous; and in transporting them from thence, through 
an almost unsettled country, to lake George. After all the 
expensive and laborious preparations, not an effort had been 
made to drive tiie invaders even from their outposts at Ti- 
conderoga."* 

The negotiations for peace, which had been commenced with 
Teedyuscung, the chief of the Delaware and Shawanese tribes 
on the Susquehannah,had neutralized these, but the province 
was still exposed to continued devastation, from the French, 
and western Indians, who roamed in small parties over the 
country, avoiding or attacking the forts and armed provin- 
cialists as they judged most safe. The counties of Cumber- 
land, Berks, Nortliampton, and Lancaster, were, during the 
spring and summer months of 1757, kept in continual alarm, 
and some of the savage scalping parties were pushed on to 
within thirty miles of Philadelphia. Many of these wretches 
paid, with their lives, the just penalty of their temerity. 
But their sufferings bore no comparison with those of the 
unfortunate inhabitants. Incessant anxiety pervaded every 
family in the counties we have mentioned; their slumbers 
w^ere broken by the yell of demons, or by the dread of an at- 
tack, scarce less horrid than their actual presence. The 
ground was ploughed, the seed sown, and the harvest gathered, 
under the fear of the tomahawk and rifle. Scarce any out- 
door labour was safely executed, unless protected by arms 
in the hands of the labourers, or by regular troops. Women 
visiting their sick neighbours were shot or captured ; chil- 
dren driving home cattle from the field were killed and 
scalped; whilst the enemy, dastardly as cruel, shrunk from 
every equality of force. Many of the richest neighbour- 
hoods were deserted, and property of every kind given up 
to the foe. Many instances of heroism were displayed, by 
men, women, and children, in the defence of themselves and 
their homes, and in pursuing and combatting the enemy. 
There was certainly a great want of ability and energy in the 

* .\I;irslia!l. 



1757] TIISTOKY OF PENNSYLVANIA. o49 

constituted authorities and the people of the province. United 
councils, and well-directed efforts, might have driven the bar- 
barians to their savage haunts, and repeated the chastisement 
they received at Kittanning, until they sued for peace. But 
imbecility distinguished the British ministers and officers, 
and discord paralyzed the efforts of the provinces, especially 
that of Pennsylvania. 

The assembly of Pennsylvania had adjourned from April 
to August, but were convened on the last of May by the go- 
vernor, to consider the command of the ministry to all the 
provinces, to raise as many men as possible for the general 
service, besides the force necessary for their protection indi- 
vidually; and to enable him to send two hundred of the pro- 
vincial forces to South Carolina. These forces he had pro- 
mised to lord Loudon, to be despatched with five companies 
of the first battalion of the royal American regiment, in con- 
sidei'ation that the remaining five companies of that battalion 
should be left Tender colonel Stanwix for the defence of the 
Pennsylvania frontier. The house enabled the governor to 
keep his promise, by granting an additional bounty on en- 
listment, but this was not obtained vviihout a long and vexa- 
tious dispute. 

Lord Loudon, in the middle of January, summoned the 
governors of the New England provinces to New York. 
In no very good humour, he attributed to them the disasters 
of the last campaign. "Their enterprise against Crown 
Point," he said, "had not been timely communicated to the 
ministry ; their troops were inferior to his expectations, dis- 
posed to insubordination, and less numerous than had been 
promised: the true state of the forts and garrisons had not 
been reported to him, and the provincial legislatures had given 
him votes, instead of men and money." He concluded this 
reprimand with a requisition of additional troops from New 
England, New York, and New Jersey. The spirit of the 
colonists was not to be broken by misfortunes, though caused 
by the incapacity of their commander, nor perverted by his 
rej)roachcs: his demands were complied with, and he was 



350 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [ifST 

placed in the spring at the head of a respectable army, to 
tempt his fortune under his own star. 

The failure of the past year was attributed to the multi- 
plied objects of the campaign, and the consequent division 
of the forces. Unity of design, and concentration of the 
troops, it was presumed, would ensure success. It was re- 
solved to attack Louisburg, and Halifax was fixed for the 
rendezvous of the fleet and army. In the beginning of July, 
admiral Holburn arrived there with a large squadron and five 
thousand land forces; andj after many delays, was joined by 
lord Loudon, with six thousand regulars. The mother coun- 
try and her colonies very properly anticipated much from this 
formidable armament. But the procrastination of lord Lou- 
don doomed his country and himself to disappointments. 
The French occupied the harbour of Louisburg with a su- 
perior force, despatched from Brest, composed of six thou- 
sand troops, and seventeen line-of-battle ships, against which 
the English commander was not disposed to make an effort. 

The French, however, lost no time in availing themselves 
of the advantages to be derived from the withdrawal of the 
British troops from New York. Montcalm, at the head of 
nine thousand men, drawn principally from Crown Point, 
Ticonderoga, and the neighbouring forts, with some Cana- 
dians and Indians, laid siege to Castle William, on the south- 
ern shore of lake George. The place was garrisoned by three 
thousand men, and was well fortified, and supplied with ne- 
cessaries; but colonel Monroe was compelled to surrender 
within six days after its investment. Montcalm's victory 
was stained by the barbarities of his Indian allies; and, though 
he exerted himself to protect his prisoners, the massacre of 
many of them will ever be coupled with his name. The ex- 
ertions of major-general Webb, in collecting troops in addi- 
tion to his garrison, then four thousand strong, checked the 
march of Montcalm, until the return of Loudon to New 
York. This nobleman afforded to the colonies sufficient 
evidence, that want of judgment, foresight, and activity, was 
not peculiar to Americans. 



175T] HiSTonv of i'kmvsylvania. 351 

In communicating this disastrous intelligence to the as- 
sembly, governor Denny said, "It is not my intention to 
aggravate our present distress by a painful review of what 
is past: but can I, gentlemen, consistent with my duty, for- 
bear to mention that this province has been the unhappy 
seat of cruel war for upwards of two years, groaning under 
the bloody outrages of a most barbarous enemy, the troops 
sent to our protection defeated and destroyed, our borders 
pillaged and laid waste, great numbers murdered, and cairied 
into captivity, and eleven thousand of the enemy at this in- 
stant in the heart of a neighbouring province, at present 
carrying all before them; while we, amidst this series of mis- 
fortune, are neither put into a sufficient posture to defend 
ourselves, nor have power nor authority, out of the vast 
number of fighting men this government contains, to send a 
single man of them to the relief of our neighbours, without 
calling in the ranging parties, which are constantly out, and 
evacuating the few garrisons we have on our frontiers, now 
more than ever necessary for their defence. These things, 
gentlemen, are so surprising in their nature, that they would 
exceed all credibility, if the facts were not too flagrant, and 
too fatally felt. Let me entreat you, therefore, if you make 
a distinction between liberty and slavery, between your ines- 
timable privileges as Englishmen, and a miserable subjection 
to arbitrary power, to em.brace this opportunity, perhaps the 
last, to retrieve, as much as possible, former errors, and to act 
vigorously, as your all is now at stake." He then earnestly 
recommended that volunteers should be raised in Philadel- 
phia and its vicinity, and despatched to New York, as no 
troops could be spared from the frontiers, the immediate 
enactment of a militia law, and the improvement of the fa- 
vourable disposition of the Indians. 

The house instantly authorized him to raise the trooj)3 
required, or to draw from the frontier garrisons one thousand 
men. Should the latter be preferred, and recommending that 
as the best plan, they advised that the place of these troops 
should be filled by the border inhabitants, who, notwithstand- 
ing the presence of the regulars, were compelled to be con- 



352 HISTOKY OF PENNSYLVANIA, [l757 

stantly on the alert, and were willing now to enlist for gar- 
rison and ranging duty. This species of force had been found 
most effectual at the commencement of liostilities, and might 
now be readily obtained by offering commissions to those who 
would raise companies. 

The disputes between the governor and the assembly had 
hitherto turned upon public measures, and though he had re- 
pressed the exertions of the province by his devotion to the 
proprietaries; yet he found some extenuation of his conduct 
in his instructions and situation. But a new quarrel now 
arose, in consequence of his perversion of the powers of his 
office to protect a partisan, whose alleged abuse of judicial 
power and magisterial functions, had drawn upon him the 
public censure. Numerous petitions were piesented to the 
assembly against William Moore, president of the court of 
common pleas of Chester county, charging him with gross 
misconduct in his office. Moore having received a copy of the 
charges against him, and a notification to appear before the 
house, made wilful default. The assembly, after investiga- 
tion, resolved that he was guilty of arbitrary, extortionate, 
and fraudulent practices, in manifest violation of his duty, 
and to the great oppression of the people, and that the go- 
vernor should be requested to remove him from his offices of 
judge of the common pleas, and justice of the peace, and such 
other public employments as he might hold. But this re- 
quest the governor refused until he should examine the 
allegations against Moore, and hear his defence. Though 
neglecting to jilead before the house, Moore, in reliance on 
the favourable disposition of his judge, made a formal defence 
in writing before the governor. Of this he published a copy, 
containing, in the language of the assembly, many " injurious 
charges, and slanderous aspeisions against the conduct of the 
late assembly, and highly derogative of, and destructive to, 
the rights and privileges of the house." And Mr, Smith, 
the college provost, who had provoked the ire of the former 
assembly by the freedom of his correspondence, on the sup- 
position of having written this otieiisive address, was arrested 
with Moore on the warrant of the house, by the sergeant-at- 



1758] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 35 3 

arms. Drs. Thomas and Pliineas Bond, and Michael Lovell, 
were summoned instantly before the house, to testify their 
knowledge of this libel. Doctor P. Bond only was examined. 
He declined to answer any questions until he had time allow- 
ed him for recollection, and an opportunity of consulting his 
friends; and for this purpose he asked that the questions of 
the house should be reduced to writing. This was imme- 
diately done, and the house urged his reply, as nothing was 
demanded of him prejudicial to himself or Moore, to whom 
he was related; their inquiries being altogether in relation to 
Smith, to whom he was not publicly known to owe any ob- 
ligations. He was then asked whether, to his knowledge, a 
paper, containing the substance of an address, presented to 
the governor, and subscribed William Moore, was corrected, 
altered, and amended at any time whatever by William 
Smith? Refusing a categorical answer to this question, he 
was committed to the sergeant-at-arms. Willing, however, 
to try the effect of lenity, or in consideration, as they de- 
clared, of his general good character, and connexion with the 
parties, the house assured him that no testimony he should 
give on this occasion should inculpate himself. Still he pre- 
served silence, even though his silence was voted a con- 
tempt to the authority and powers of the house, and to have 
a manifest tendency to suppress the truth, and obstruct pub- 
lic justice; and that he should remain in custody until he con- 
sented to answer, or should be enlarged by the house, 
occluded from all but his keeper, liut soon after, some facts 
being disclosed, which, alone. Bond felt he was required in 
honour to conceal, his obligation of secrecy ceased, and he 
answered freely to the demands of the house. 

Pending the inquiry relative to Smith, the governor in- 
formed the house, that in consequence of their application he 
had resolved strictly to investigate Moore's conduct, and if 
he found him guilty, to make a public example of him; and 
that he had appointed that day (January the ninth) to hear 
him before council, at the state house, but that he was inform- 
ed that Moore was closely confined by their order. He made 
this communication, he said, to show them how sincerely he 
45 



354 IIISIOKV OK I'K.NNSYLVAMA. [l75S 

was disposed to do every thing in his power consistent with ius- 
ticein this matter, and that no delay shoukl he imputed to hinn. 
In this message, however, he neglected to account for the 
delay that had occurred since the application of the house. 
The house, in their reply, justified their application for 
Moore's dismissal from office, on his refusal to a[)pear and 
take defence, and ui ged the governor's compliance with their 
request on tlie precedents of parliament. They denied his 
right to inquire judicially into Moore's conduct, unless sitting 
as a court of impeachment, in which case notice should be 
given them, that they might prepare articles, and appoint a 
committee to prosecute them. And they demanded a day 
for the trial of Moore, on such articles as they should prefer, 
proposing that the sergeant-at-arms should attend with the 
prisoner, or deliver him over to the custody of such person 
as the governor should appoint. But the governor would 
not suffer the matter to take this course. 

Moore being brought before the house, was shown the 
printed address and manuscript. He admitted that he was 
the author, though it had been corrected by his friends before 
publication; but being called upon to answer new charges of 
official misconduct, he denied the jurisdiction of the assembly; 
upon which they declared him guilty of contempt, and adopt- 
ed the following resolutions. 1, That to write or publish any 
matter reflecting on the assembly, or a member thereof, re- 
lating to service therein, was a high and manifest violation 
of privilege. 2, That to assert directly or indirectly that the 
assembly had not power to examine and redress the com- 
plaints of the people against public officers, or in any other 
case where the subject was ojipressed, was destructive of the 
privileges of the house, and subversive of a fundamental and 
essential power of the constitution. 3, That Moore having 
acknowledged himself the author of a libellous address, should 
be committed to the common jail, until he should retract the 
aspersions and falsehoods contained thejein, in such manner 
as the house should approve; or obey such other order as 
they should make during the continuance of the present 



1758] HISTORY OF Pr.NNSYLVANIA. 355 

assembly; and that the address should be burned by the com- 
mon hangman. 

A day being assij^ned for Smith's trial, he was directed to 
obtain counsel. He proposed Mr. Chew, but he being attor- 
ney-general, the house deemed it improper for him to defend 
one charged by the public. Mr. Ross appeared for the pri- 
soner, and proposed to consider three points. 1, The authority 
of the present house to punish persons charged with libelling 
the former assembly. 2, How far the paper in question was 
a libel. 3, The guilt of Smith as an abettor. The assembly 
overruled the two first, and determined the last against him 
by a large majority. During the trial, some evidence, by 
similarity of hand-writing, had been given against the prison- 
er, which the house unanimously resolved should have no 
weight to determine his guilt or innocence. Smith also was 
sentenced to imprisonment until he should give satisfaction 
to the house for his offence. 

The public mind had been greatly excited by this inquiry; 
and several efforts were made by the governor's party to get 
Smith's case out of the hands of the assembly. His friends 
petitioned that he might be delivered lo bail; and his counsel, 
after judgment, prayed an appeal to the king in council. Both 
were refused; and the speaker informed Smith that his sub- 
mission would prevent the necessity of bail to avoid commit- 
ment. To this he replied, "that as no evidence had been 
adduced sufficient for his conviction, and as others more cul- 
pable than he, had been dismissed unpunished, he could not 
but view himself as singled out as the peculiar object of their 
resentment; that as he was not conscious of having given 
them any just cause of offence, or having violated the consti- 
tution, or infringed the rights of the people, he could not 
make acknowledgments, or profess sorrow or contrition for 
his conduct;" "and no punishment," he continued, striking 
his hand upon his breast, " which they could inflict would be 
half so terrible to him as suffering his tongue to give his heart 
the lie." 

The lobby of the house was crowded with spectators of all 
parties. The friends of the prisoner, at the conclusion of his 



356 HISIORY OF I'liNNSYLVANlA. \_\7 57 

speech, expressed their approbation by stamping of the feet, 
hissing, and clapping of hands. Orders were given imme- 
diately by the speaker, to close the doors, and stop those 
who had riotously insulted the house ; and, subsequently, 
he issued his warrant for the arrest of James Young, pay- 
master of the forces, Thomas Lawrence, alderman, Wil- 
liam Peters, one of the justices of the city and member of 
council, John Bell and John Wallace, merchants, William 
Vanderspeigle, Lyndford Lardner, Richard Hockley, and 
Charles Osborne. The three last denied all participation in 
the offence, and were acquitted — Lardner proving that he 
was not in the house at the time of its commission; Bell, 
Young, Wallace, Lawrence, Peters, and Osborne, made satis- 
factory acknowledgments, were reprimanded, and discharged 
on the payment of costs. Thomas Willing had not been 
accused, but appeared voluntarily, and confessed that he had 
inadvertently clapped his hands; and, having expressed his 
sense of the impropriety of his conduct, was dismissed. 
Moore and Smith were delivered to the sheriff, with a charge 
to refuse obedience to any writ of habeas corpus, that might 
be issued for their relief: yet, after near three months' im- 
prisonment, they were liberated by one of the judges upon 
that writ, during the recess of the house ; but, when the as- 
sembly again met, a new warrant was issued for their appre- 
hension. 

On this occasion, the assembly sacrificed to their ven- 
geance, some of the most essential principles of political 
liberty. They had no right to inquire of, and punish, con- 
tempts against a former house. Their prohibition of public 
examination, by speech or writing, of the conduct of the re- 
presentatives of the people, was an act of tyranny, equalled 
only by the special suspension of the habeas corpus act, by 
which judicial inquiry was prevented into the case of the cul- 
prits. Tiie case of Moore and Smith, viewed on either side, 
was highly coloured by party feelings. Complaints had been 
made for many years against the former, and charges of the 
most flagitious character were supported by the oaths of re- 
spectable witnesses. The governor's entire disregard of the 



irSS] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 357 

remonstrances of the assembly, and his mock examination of 
Moore's case, from which he inferred that the petitions were 
entirely groundless, provoked the house, and drew them into 
the unconstitutional measures we have condemned. Smith, 
notwithstanding the prohibition of the assembly, prosecuted 
his appeal before the king in council, where it was deter- 
mined, in June, 1758, that the assembly had assumed powers 
which did not belong to them, and that their conduct merited 
his majesty's high displeasure. The appellant was recom- 
mended to seek redress in the courts of the province. 

The members of the assembly, however, continued to pre- 
serve the favour of the people, and the major part was again 
returned at the election in October, 1757. Isaac Norris 
was unanimously elected speaker, as he had been for many 
years, but, in consequence of ill health, he declined the 
service, and Thomas Leech, of Philadelphia county, was 
elected in his stead. Benjamin Franklin was re-appointed 
provincial agent at London, and Robert Charles and Richard 
Partridge his assistants. The estimate for the expenses of 
the year was one hundred and five thousand six hundred 
and sixty-four pounds, in which was included the charge of 
supporting a frigate, fitted out by the province for the defence 
of the river and bay of Delaware, and adjacent coast. The 
means to supply this expenditure were derived from the issue 
of eighty thousand pounds in bills of credit, redeemable by 
the usual tax on estates and polls, and a tonnage duty on all 
vessels entering the port; the last being specially appro- 
priated to the maintainance of the provincial sloop of war. 
The military force for the year, first fixed at seven hun- 
dred men, was afterwards increased to a thousand, of which 
three hundred only were retained under the orders of the 
province; the remainder being placed at the disposition of 
the earl of Loudon. 

These services, though promptly rendered, were the cold 
returns of duty. There was no enthusiasm, scarce a hope of 
success, to animate the people. The dilatory and indecisive 
character of lord Loudon did not inspire confidence; nor 
could they, in the uncertainty of his measures, perceive any 



358 HisroKY OF Pennsylvania. [1758 

advantage to themselves. Unable to change the order of 
events, the assen:ib!y of Pennsylvania adopted the only wise 
course left to them — they resolved to suffer with patience, 
and to comply with the requisitions of the governor and 
commander-in-chief. From this state of apathy, they were 
aroused by the voice of William Pitt. The same enterprise, 
judgment, and firmness, which had raised England from the 
depths of humiliation, were now employed for the destruc- 
tion of her enemies on the American continent. The plan 
of the campaign was wisely matured, and committed for exe- 
cution to men who had reputations to sustain and fortunes to 
create. Loudon was recalled. Abercrombie commanded in 
chief, with Amherst for his second, aided by brigadiers 
Wolfe and Forbes. The fleet, consisting altogether of one 
hundred and fifty sail, was commanded by admiral Boscawen. 

The designated objects of attack were Louisburg, the forts 
on the lakes, and fort Du Quesne, on the Ohio. Major-ge- 
neral Amherst, with twelve thousand men, aided by the fleet, 
laid siege to the first early in June, and captured it, after an 
obstinate defence of seven weeks. Five thousand six hun- 
dred prisoners, one hundred and twenty pieces of cannon, 
and a vast quantity of stores and ammunition, fell to the con- 
querors. The enemy during the siege lost, destroyed and 
captured, six ships of the line, and five frigates. 

General Abercrombie, with the main body, composed of 
seven thousand regulars and ten thousand English troops, 
undertook the expedition against ihe northern forts.* He 
first attempted Ticonderoga, a fort erected by the French in 
1756, on the narrow neck of land which divides lake George 
from Champlain. Its position, strong by nature, was well 
secured by ait, and defended by a garrison of five thousand 
men. Relying on his superior force, the general made his 
attack without artillery, which, from the badness of the roads, 
could not keep pace with the army. He was repulsed with 
Ihe loss of two thousand ineii killed and wounded; among 



July. 



1758] HISTORY OF PF.NNSYLVANIA. 359 

the former was brigadier-general lord Howe, with many of- 
ficers of distinction; the number of the latter was inconsi- 
derable. Though still superior to the enemy, he made a 
hasty retreat, but compensated for this ill-timed prudence, 
by the capture of fort Frontignac, This fort, situated on the 
north side of the river St. Lawrence, at its opening from lake 
Ontario, commanded the river, and served as a magazine for 
the more southern castles. The garrison consisted of one 
hundred and ten men only, but the fort contained sixty pieces 
of cannon, sixteen small mortars, with an immense quantity 
of merchandise and provisions, deposited for the use of the 
French forces in the western garrisons. Nine armed vessels, 
some of which carried eighteen guns, were also taken. The 
enterprise was projected and executed by lieutenant-colonel 
Bradstreet. 

Before entering upon the history of the expedition against 
fort Du Quesne, it will be proper to notice the treaty with 
the Indians, and the proceedings of the assembly of Penn- 
sylvania, in consequence of the letters of the British mi- 
nister. 

The Indian tribes in the province, and its vicinity, having 
generally become desirous of peace, agreed to meet the 
governor and agents of the assembly at Easton in August, 
1757; where the governors of New Jersey, New York, 
Maryland, and Virginia, together with sir William John- 
son, were invited. The agents of Pennsylvania were Messrs, 
Norris, Fox, Hughes, Roberdeau, Galloway, Masters, Strick- 
land, and Gibbons, all members of the assembly. A number 
of influential Quakers had formed themselves into a '' Friend- 
ly Association," for the purpose of allaying the jealousies 
of the Indians, and to restore peace, by procuring justice 
to be done them. The leading members of this society 
were desirous to attend the meeting at Easton, and soli- 
cited the governor's permission to contribute to the present 
to be given to the Indians on that occasion. He refused 
their request as inconsistent with his instructions, and in- 
formed them that their interference with Indian affairs had 



360 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. T''^-''® 

already given much offence to the government. The asso- 
ciation immediately prepaied a long defence of their conduct, 
recapitulating the progress of Indian hostility, and their ef- 
forts to prevent it. They dwelt on the Indian complaints of 
injustice in the purchase and measurement of their lands. 
But, not being able to change the governor's determination 
to forbid their presence, they resolved to publish their de- 
fence; and, in the conviction that they might aid in the esta- 
blishment of peace, to attend the conference at Easton. The 
first of these measures they suspended, from an intimation 
that it might inflame the minds of the Indians. 

The Indians, to the number of three hundred, composed of 
therepresentatives often tribes, chiefly from. theSusquehannah, 
assembled under Tedyuscung, a king of the Delawares, who 
conducted the conference on their part. Instigated by the 
'•'Friendly Association," he insisted upon having a seci-etary 
appointed by himself, to take notes of the treaty. Governor 
Denny expostulated upon this novel pretension, but was com- 
pelled to accede to it, on the threat of Tedyuscung, to break up 
the conference. The demand of the chief was supported by 
the provincial agents, who were reprimanded by the governor 
for their interference, and forbidden to hold any intercourse 
with thelndians on public business. CharlesThompson, master 
of the Quaker free school in Philadelphia, and subsequently 
distinguished as the secretary of congress, was selected by Ted- 
yuscung for his secretary. That chieftain complained that 
the Indians were aggrieved by the proprietary purchases of 
their lands from tribes who had no right to sell, and by the 
unfairness of the measurement where sales were justly made. 
He asked for the production, examination, and publication of 
the title deeds to the whites, disclaiming all pretensions to 
lands fairly purchased and paid for; and demanded satisfaction 
for such as were bought of those who had no title to sell, or 
were included in the proprietary surveys contrary to agree- 
ment. His nation, ho said, intended to settle at Wyoming, 
and to build themselves dwellings of a durable nature, and 
therefore desired that a proper tract of land might be desig- 
nated by certain boundaries, which they should be prohibited 



1758] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 361 

to sell; that Ihey might be instructed in the art of building, 
in reading and writing, and in the knowledge of the christian 
religion; and that a fair trade might be established, under the 
direction of suitable persons appointed to conduct it. 

The matter and style of these demands differed much from 
the usual Indian method; and the interference of the whites 
was rendered evident by a draft of the disputed lands, accom- 
panying the speech of the chief. Weiser and Croghan, the 
interpreters, declared that the sense of the Indians had been 
misstated, their main object being to obtain a view of 
the deeds of such liinds, that they might learn by whom 
they were granted. The Indians admitted that the pro- 
prietaries had honestly purchased from the Six nations, but 
denied the right of these nations to sell. The English declin- 
ed to enter upon an inquiry which involved the title of the 
Six nations, and the subject was referred to the consideration 
of Sir William Johnson, upon their suggestion to Teedyus- 
cung, that his persistance in these claims would bring upon 
the Delawares the anger of those powerful tribes. The deeds 
the Indians desired to see were exhibited by Mr. Peters, and 
copies were given. Satisfied with this, they not only con- 
cluded a treaty of peace, but agreed to take up arms against the 
French. 

In July, at the instanceof the "Friendly Association," gover- 
nor Denny despatched Frederick Post, a Moravian missionary, 
who had resided much among the Indians, to the towns be- 
yond the Ohio, with information of this peace, and an invita- 
tion to participate in it. The messenger was well received, 
and though he was unable altogether to remove their suspi- 
cions of the English sincerity, which the French kept alive, 
yet he effected a relaxation of hostilities, and received an 
earnest request to make them another visit in company with 
other white men, who might confirm his message. 

In commemoration of the treaty of Easton, a medal 
was struck, at the instanceof the " Friendly Association," 
having on one side the head of George II., and on the 
other a citizen and Indian seated under a tree, the former 
presenting to the latter the calumet of peace; a fire, as is 
46 



S62 1[IST0RY OV PENNSYLVANIA. [l75S 

usual on such occasions, burning between them; the sun in the 
zenith. Lege?id. Let us look to the Most High, who blessed 
our fathers with peace — 1757.* 

The constituted authorities of the province, always dispos- 
ed to every measure which tended to soften and civilize the 
character of the Indians, cheerfully acceded to their wishes of 
making permanent buildings, and other improvements, at 
Wyoming. In the month of May, Messrs. Hughes and 
Pauling, appointed commissioners for this purpose, were 
despatched to that place with about fifly labourers and me- 
chanics. Having out-travelled Teedyuscung, and a party of his 
tribe, who had visited Philadelphia, to enjoy in presents and 
public attention some immediate fruits of his late treaty, the 
commissioners were informed by him on his arrival at Wyo- 
ming, that a party of the hostile Indians from the West were 
abroad. This report was not immediately credited. But 
this scepticism proved fatal to one of the provincials. A Mr, 
Joseph Croker,who had volunteered to accompany Mr.Hughes, 
rode, soon after their arrival at Wyoming, with another young 
man, about a half mile from the town, to collect the horses; 
they were fired upon from the opposite side of the river, in 
view of the workmen. Croker was instantly killed, but the 
other received no injury. A number of whites and Indians 
pursued the enemy, who betook themselves to the mountain, 
and escaped by favour of the night. 

The letters of Mr. Pitt to the colonies were well adapted 
to produce union and activity among the southern colonies. 
They were informed that their (combined forces should be 
applied to remove the enemy from the western frontiers, and 
that the king, unwilling to limit their exertions, would leave 
to each colony to raise, with the greatest possible despatch, as 
large a force as was in its power; and to render such force effi- 
cient, the minister recommended to the respective governors 
to commission popular men for officers, and in bestowing mili- 
tary appointments, to have regard solely to the public service. 
Arms, ammunition, tents, and provisions, were to be furnish- 

» Description Ijy Ur. James Mease, N. Y. Hist. Col, 388. 



irSS] HISTORY OV PENNSYLVANIA. 363 

ed by the crown, the expense of levying clothing and pay was 
to be borne by the provinces. But even these expenses he 
promised to recommend the parliament to pay, as the vigour 
and strenuous efforts of the provinces should merit. 

Animated by hope, the assembly of Pennsylvania instantly 
resolved to place at the disposition of the English command- 
ers, two thousand seven hundred men, including those already 
in the provincial service. To encourage enlistment they gave 
a bounty of five pounds to the recruit, and one pound to the 
recruiting officer; and earnestly recommended the governor 
to pursue the secretary's advice in the selection of officers, 
nor leave unessayed any method to have the forces ready by 
the month of May, agreeably to his majesty's orders. They 
voted the sum of one hundred thousand pounds, prepared 
quarters for the troops, and wagons for their baggage; put 
the roads in repair, and raised and equipped a troop of fifty 
light-horse. 

The mission of Mr. Franklin had yet produced no altera- 
tion in the determination of the proprietaries in regard to the 
taxation of their estates; but the governor anticipating its 
results, abandoned his pretension to immunity from taxes, re- 
fusing, however, to suffer the estates of the proprietaries to 
be assessed by the ordinary assessors, and requiring the as- 
sessment to be made by commissioners of their own appoint- 
ment. But the house rejecting this proposition, preferred to 
pass their bill without including the proprietary estates. The 
governor had also objected to the commissioners named in the 
act for granting one hundred thousand pounds; but he finally 
gave up this objection, under a protest that he was compelled 
to act contrary to his judgment by the public exigencies. 

The obnoxious commissioners were Messrs. Fox, Masters, 
Baynton, Hughes, and Galloway, all members of the assem- 
bly. The governor charged them with neglect and disregard 
towards him; with expending monies without his previous 
consent; with excluding from their meetings Messrs. Lard- 
ner and Mifflin, members of council, and their fellow com- 
missioners; with neglecting to render him a statement of 
their accounts, and refusing to deliver him a list of the 



364 HISTORY OF I'ENNSYLVANIA. [1758 

goods tli.stributed by them to the Indians at Easton. Against 
these charges the commissioners made a formal written de- 
fence before the assembly. They congratulated themselves 
that the governor had not charged them with appropriating 
the public money to their own use. The charge of personal 
disrespect, they said, was too vague to be refuted; they were 
totally unconscious of such an offence, nor could they con- 
jecture Avhat had given room for such a charge, unless it were 
their refusal to defray the expense of many projects proposed 
by him, rather calculated to squander the public money in- 
trusted to their care, than to answer any useful purpose; such 
were his propositions to build a fort at Raystown, to be gar- 
risoned with five hundred men, in the pay of the province, 
and to put into the hands of military officers sums of money, 
from time to time, to be disposed of by them without account 
To these offences, they continued, might be added their fre 
quent remonstrances to the governor on the great neglect of 
the military service, which was obvious to all, and under his 
immediate notice; on the disregard of the law, by not issuing 
ranging orders; for not recruiting the battalions until long 
after the enlistments had expired ; and on the distressed and 
bleeding state of the frontier, occasioned by these neglects, 
whilst the troops were sleeping in garrison, without the ne- 
cessary orders for ranging and protecting the inhabitants. 
The truth of the other charges they denied in round terms, 
and sustained their denial by their clerk, who deposed that 
the governor had approved the expenditures of the commis- 
sioners in the usual form ; that like notice of meeting had 
been given to Lardner and Mifflin, as to the other commis- 
sioners, that the governor had been furnished with a list and 
value of the goods at Easton; and that the delay in rendering 
him a copy of the accounts, was caused by the pressure of 
business upon himself. 

The conclusive nature of this defence, and the spirit with 
which it was made, did not fail to irritate the governor. His 
anger broke forth upon JVIr. Fox and Mr. Hughes, who wait- 
ed on him to state an account of monies lodged in the hands 
of the former, to open a trade with the Indians at fort Augusta. 
He treated Mr. Fox with much indecorum, and exclaimed, 



1758] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 365 

" Sir, your eloquence is very great — Sir, your eloquence is 
very good; but let it be short — It is very good, but let it be 
short — Your account will speak for itself, I suppose — What 
sort of treatment is this to a governor ? Half an hour ago, or 
a quarter of an hour ago, or twenty minutes or less, I receiv- 
ed a message from your house, (holding a paper in his hand) 
— Why this is the strangest treatment to a governor. What! 
shall I not have time to do the public business? I was just 
now considering your message, and here comes another. This 
treatment for a governor } This treatment for a governor ?" 
Whereupon Mr. Hughes said, Sir, your honour mistakes us, 
we come by the order of the house. The governor inter- 
rupted him, and cried, very pretty! very pretty, indeed! — 
What do the house mean ? Who is to judge of the mistake? 
You, sir? You, sir? Sure! You, sir? Very pretty treat- 
ment indeed to a governor! not to give me time to do the 
public business. Then turning to Mr. Fox, and making a 
low bow, he said, " Pray, sir, leave your paper, it will speak 
for itself, and I will consider of it." Mr. Fox replied, "Here 
it is — it will speak for itself." The governor rejoined, " 
yes, sir, your eloquence is very great, but less of it — it is 
very good, but no matter how short, sir." Mr. Fox then put 
down the paper on the table, and said, " Here is the account, 
and I am ready to settle." "Aye, sir, aye, sir, (responded 
the governor) you have a good deal to settle — you keep back 
your accounts — you refuse your accounts to me, though you 
are mean enough to get your clerk to take it upon himself, 
and say it was a neglect of his." Mr. Fox being about to 
reply, he continued, " aye, sir, aye, sir, you are very eloquent, 
you are very good, sir, and if you will look in the glass you 
will see your own picture." He then desired them to speak 
the truth when they had left the room. To which Fox 
answered, " I defy your honour, or any man, to charge me 
with the contrary." This conversation being reported to the 
house, they gravely resolved, " That it was their right, 
either by themselves, or any of their members, to have free 
access to, and decent treatment from the governor on public 
business at all seasonable times; that the manner in which the 



366 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. _ [1758 

governor received the members, and the treatment he gave 
them when about to deliver their message, were extremely 
unbecoming his station, indecent, unparliamentary, and had 
an evident tendency to destroy that freedom of access which 
the representatives of the freemen of the province have a right 
to, and without which the affairs of the government cannot be 
transacted." 

The promptitude of the assembly to furnish military sup- 
plies produced new claims from the commanders. General 
Forbes required tents, arms, and camp necessaries, and that 
Pennsylvania should bear the expense of a party of Cherokees 
who had joined the British standard; and admiral Boscawen 
requested three hundred seamen, in consideration of which 
he promised to station a frigate in the Delaware bay. But 
the assembly pleaded to the requisition of general Forbes, his 
majesty's instructions to levy, clothe, and pay the troops 
only, and referred the Cherokee Indians to the crown, they 
having taken up arms at its invitation. Boscawen's request 
was refused, from the want of funds to raise the sailors. 

The attack on fort Du Quesne was confided to brigadier- 
general Forbes, with a detachment from general Abercrom- 
bie's army, strengthened by the southern militia; the whole 
computed at seven thousand eight hundred and fifty men.* 
He began his march from Carlisle in the middle of July, to 
join colonel Bonquet, who was posted at Raystown. On his 
arrival, colonel Bonquet, with two thousand five hundred 
men, was advanced to Loyal Hanna, fifty miles further to 
the westward. The march of the main body was delayed 
until September, in consequence of the difficulty in procuring 
carriages and military stores, and of the tardiness with which 
the orders to the Virginia regulars, under colonel Washing- 
ton, to join, had been given. In the meantime, major Grant 

* 350 royal Americans; four companies. 
1200 liighlanders; thirteen companies. 
2600 Virginians. 
2700 Pennsylvanians. 
1000 wagoners, sutlers, and follovvcr.s of the army. 

renn. Gazette, 1758, No. 1553. 



1758] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 367 

was detached by Bonquet, with eight hundred men, to re- 
connoitre the fort and adjacent country. He was attacked, 
surrounded by the enemy, and lost above three hundred men, 
killed and taken, and was himself among the prisoners; the 
remainder retired in great confusion.* Colonel Bonquet still 
continuing at Loyal Hanna, the enemy resolved to attack 
him in his camp. A force, estimated at twelve hundred 
French, and two hundred Indians, commanded by De Vetri, 
assailed him on the' eleventh of October with great vivacity, 
but was compelled to draw off with considerable loss, after 
a warm combat of four hours. A second attack was^made 
during the night, but some shells thrown from the camp 
compelled them to retreat. The loss of colonel Bonquet 
amounted to sixty-seven rank and file, killed and wounded. 
Upon the twenty-third or twenty-fourth of October, general 
Forbes proceeded from Raystown to Loyal Hanna. He 
continued there until the seventeenth of November. On 
the twelfth of that month, colonel Washington, being out 
with a scouting party, fell in with a number of the enemy 
about three miles from the camp, whom he attacked, killing 
one, and taking three prisoners: among the latter was one 
Johnson, an Englishman, who had been captured by the In- 
dians in Lancaster county, from whom was derived full and 
correct information of the state of the garrison at Quebec. 
A most unfortunate occurrence happened to the provincials 
upon this occasion. The fire of Washington's party being 
heard at the camp, colonel Mercer, with a number of Virgi- 
nians, were sent to his assistance. The two parties approach- 
ing, in the dusk of the evening, reciprocally mistook each 
other for enemies; a number of shot were exchanged, by 
which a lieutenant and thirteen or fourteen Virginians were 
killed. On the thirteenth of November, a force of one thou- 
sand men, under colonel John Armstrong, was pushed for- 
ward, and the general followed 5n the seventeenth, with four 
thousand three hundred eflective men. leaving strono; 2;arri- 
sons at Raystown and Loyal Hanna. For want of practical 

* 14lh September. 



368 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l758 

roads, the whole march was tedious and difficult — the ad- 
vance of ten miles a-day being deemed extraordinary pro- 
gress. The army was greatly afflicted by sickness, and 
weakened by desertion. Neglecting the road formerly cut 
by Braddock over the mountains, general Forbes opened a 
new one, by which he approached the fort. The capture of 
Fronlignac, and the defection of the Indians from the French 
interest, had already prepared the way for his success. The 
garrison of fort Du Quesne, unsustained b)'^ their savage allies, 
and hopeless of reinforcements, the Canadian force lately en- 
gaged at Loyal Hanna having retired, held the place only 
until the approach of the English army should justify its 
abandonment. Accordingly, on the twenty-fourth of No- 
vember, when Forbes was within a day's march of the fort, 
they burned and abandoned it, and escaped by the Ohio 
river to their settlements upon the Mississippi. The ruined 
fortifications were seized by the English on the next day, 
and, being hastily repaired, were garrisoned by four hundred 
and fifty men, chiefly provincial troops, from Pennsylvania, 
Maryland, and Virginia, under the command of colonel Mer- 
cer. The remainder of the army was marched into the in- 
terior, and quartered at Lancaster, Reading, and Philadelphia. 
There being no barracks at the former places, the soldiers 
were billetted upon the inhabitants, who complained griev- 
ously of the irregularity of the men, and the caprice, favour, 
and oppression, of the officers. The assembly, having re- 
monstrated in vain on these enormities, finally directed bar- 
racks to be erected at Lancaster.* 

The troops raised by the province for the campaign merely, 
were discharged soon after the capture of fort Du Quesne. 
But the old troops were continued in service, at the requisi- 
tion of general Amherst, who had been appointed commander- 
in-chief of all the forces in America. Soon after, at the 
instance of Mr. Pitt, the assembly voted thirteen hundred 
additional troops, to act with the British and other colonial 
forces under the commander-in-chief, during the ensuing 

* Votes of assembly. Penn. Gazette, Min. of Council. 



1758] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 369 

campaign, and they encouraged enlistments by proper boun- 
ties. 

In October, another convention was held at Easton with 
the Indians, which lasted from the seventh to the twenty- 
sixth of that month, for the purpose of settling a definitive 
treaty of peace. There were present, on the part of the 
English, the governors of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, 
Mr. George Croghan, the deputy-agent of sir William John- 
son for Indian affairs, four members of the council, and six 
members of the assembly of Pennsylvania, two agents for 
the province of New Jersey, and many magistrates and free- 
holders of this and the neighbouring provinces, together with 
some citizens of Philadelphia, chiefly Quakers. On the part 
of the Indians, there were deputies and chiefs of the Mo- 
hawks, Oneidas, Onondagoes, Cayugas, Senecas, Tuscaroras, 
Nanticokes, Conies, Tuteloes, Chugnues, Delavvares, Unamies, 
Minisinks, Mohicans, and Wappingers, with their women 
and children, amounting in ail to about three hundred. Go- 
vernor Barnard, of New Jeisey, attended in consequence of 
the request of the Senecas and Cayugos. 

At the opening of the council, the Six nations complained 
of the presumption of Teedyuscung, in his late conference. 
He had boasted, they said, that he was the chief of ten na- 
tions; in which character they refused to recognise him, and 
tauntingly demanded, whether it had been given him by the 
English or French. But governor Denny allayed their in- 
dignation and jealousy, by representing the respect and ve- 
neration which Teedyuscung had always professed for the 
Six nations, and that he was considered by the English as 
the messenger only of ten nations. Thomas King, an Indian 
warrior, entered upon the development of the causes of the 
late Indian hostilities. The minds of the Indians were first 
soured, he said, by attacks upon war parties of the Shawanese 
and Senecas, passing through the province of Virginia, in 
which several warriors were killed, and others made prison- 
ers; they were further estranged by the inattention of the 
governors of Virginia and Pennsylvania to their solicitations, 
for aid to rrpel the French encroachments upon the Ohio, 
47 



370 HIS'IORY OK PliNNSTI.VANIA. [|75S 

nnd llie conr^eqnent dfpatturc or capture of the English 
traders, by which the Indians were made dependent upon Ca- 
nada for their orditiary supplies: the Minisinks had been de- 
frauded of large tracts of land in New Jersey, and had been 
pushed back so rapidly, that they were unable to discrimi- 
nate the many parcels of land which belonged to them, in- 
terspersed among those they had sold: the last purchase 
made by the proprietaries at Albany had been very unsatis- 
factory to the council of the Six nations, which refused to 
ratify the sale of more than had been settled by the whites, 
and for which payment had been made: and the Indians had 
been hardly dealt with, the whites refusing them permission 
to hunt, or to cut a single stick of timber upon their lands, 
notwithstanding their intention to reserve a common right 
to the game. Teedyuscung claimed a body of lands upon 
Tohiccon creek, which, he alleged, had been occupied by the 
whites, under a false pretence of purchase from the Six na- 
tions. The injustice of this claim, however, was immediately 
proved, by inspection of the deed from the Six nations, and 
by the testimony of the chiefs then present, who remem- 
bered the grant, and acknowledged that it had been honestly 
paid for. 

All points of difference were, however, satisfactorily ad- 
justed. Governor Barnard consented to give the Minisinks 
one thousand pounds for their claims in New Jersey : the 
proprietary agents, Weiser and Peters, re-conveyed the lands 
of the last purchase, reclaimed by the Indians; and the In- 
dians confirmed the sale of such portion as was settled and 
had been paid for. To this pacification, all the tribes lately 
engaged in the war were parties, except the Twightees, upon 
the Ohio. These also had professed their desire for the re- 
turn of peace, and had declared that it was necessary only 
for the English to be strong, in order to revive it. 

Immediately after this conference was concluded, Post was 
agiiin sent to the Indian towns beyond the Ohio, to communi- 
cate th.e result. He was .ccompanied by several whites, and 
by a Caynga chief, who bore a message from the Six nations, 
ihieatening war, siiould the Twightees and Shawanese still 



17'583 HISTORY or Pennsylvania. S71 

hesitate to make peace. But these threats were unnecessa- 
ry; they had already determined to abandon the French, 
although they expressed great unwillingness to permit the 
Knglish to rebuild and garrison fort Pitt. 

Teedyuscung having failed in his attempt to obtain lands 
from the province, endeavoured to procure from the Six na- 
tions a grant of the country about Wyoming and Shamokin. 
But the delegates of that confederacy present at the confe- 
rence, alleging their want of authority to convey, would only 
consent to his occupying it until the will of their council 
could be known. And they took occasion to reproach him 
for his breach of faith, in not returning the English prison- 
ers, according to his agreement at the conference in the 
preceding year. " It was a shame," they sneeringly told 
him, "for one who called himself a great man to tell lies;" 
and they warned him, "that he must not now fail." 

General Forbes, who had struggled with ill health during 
the last campaign, died soon after its close, at Philadelphia. 
His command devolved upon brigadier-general Stanwix, who 
was charged with the defence of the frontiers of the middle 
provinces. This duty was rendered duScult, by the want of 
pack-horses, carriages, and light cavalry. The contracts for 
wagons with the farmers of Pennsylvania had not been ful- 
filled by the late general ; large sums were due for carriage 
hire, and damages sustained by the loss of horses and car- 
riages in the service. The horses and accoutrements of the 
light-horse troops, furnished by the assembly, had been de- 
stroyed, as the provincial commissioners believed, by gross 
negligence; and the pressure of necessity being removed, 
the legislature was not disposed to increase the burdens, 
which the people bore with great inconvenience, though with 
great patience. To the solicitations of the general, that they 
would enforce the supplies of horses and wagons b}^ pecuniary 
penalties, they replied, that payment of the debts already due 
on this account was the surest means to obtain future services. 
But this act of justice was not immediately in the power of 
the general. Remittances from England had been delayed; 
and 8uch was tha scarcity of money in Philadelphia, that no 



372 HISTOKY Ol- PENNSYLVANIA. [1759 

purchaser could be found for bills upon the British treasury. 
Under these circumstances, colonel Hunter, the agent for 
the contractors for supplying money to the forces in North 
America, asked of the assembly a loan of one hundred thou- 
sand pounds currency in provincial bills, payable in instal- 
ments of six, twelve, and eighteen months. The house con- 
sented to loan him half that sum, but resolutely refused the 
entreaties of the general for two troops of light-horse. 

The British ministry having resolved to make powerful 
efforts for the total destruction of the French power in Ame- 
rica, determined to assail it in all its northern intrenchments. 
An army of right thousand men, under general Wolfe, was 
prepared to attack Quebec as soon as the season would admit. 
General Amherst, with twelve thousand regular and provin- 
cial troops, was commanded to reduce the forts of Ticonde- 
roga and Crown Point, cross lake Champlain, and by the 
rivers Richelieu and St. Lawrence, join Wolfe before Que- 
bec; and general Prideaux, reinforced by a number of friend- 
ly Indians, commanded by Sir William Johnson, was directed 
to invest the French fort at the falls of Niagara, an important 
post, overawing the country of the Six nations, protecting the 
inland trade, the navigation of the great lakes, and the com- 
munication between Canada and Louisiana; and having re- 
duced this fort, to embark on lake Ontario, fall down the river 
St. Lawrence, capture Montreal, and then to unite and co- 
operate with the army of general Amherst. To general 
Stanwix was confided the southern department, with instruc- 
tions to watch the western frontier, and to erect proper forts 
for its defence. This plan was stupendous; but when we 
consider the nature of the country, that roads were to be cut 
through forests scarce explored, boats to be built to pass the 
lakes and rivers, that the enemy was in force on all the im- 
portant points on the route, and that the city of Quebec was 
strongly fortified by nature and art, it may be well question- 
ed whether a combined attack on Quebec alone did not hold 
forth greater prospects of success. Quebec being taken, the 
victorious army would have found little resistance from places 



1759] HISTORY OK PENNSYLVANIA. 37.1 

of minor strength, whilst the British fleet commanding the 
St. Lawrence prevented all succour from France. ♦ 

The summer was much advanced hefore general Amherst 
commenced his operations. But he was delayed for a short 
time only by the forts Ticonderoga and Crown Point. The 
enemy being instructed to retreat towards Quebec before any 
force which subjected them to imminent danger of defeat and 
capture; he obtained possession of the two forts before the 
first of August, with the loss, however, of colonel Roger 
Townsend, who, whilst reconnoitering Ticonderoga, was kill- 
ed by a cannon ball near the spot where, in the last year, 
lord Howe had fallen. From the first of August to the mid- 
dle of October, the general was employed in constructing a 
fleet to obtain the command of lake Champlain, and to trans- 
port his army in front of the enemy, who, with regulars, 
Canadians, and marines, had a force of three thousand five 
hundred men at the Isle aux Noix, on the north end of the 
lake. The French maritime force consisted of four large ves- 
sels, mounted with cannon, and manned with piquets from 
different regiments, under M. Le Bras, a captain of the navy, 
assisted by M. De Ugal, and other sea officers. On the ele- 
venth of the month general Amherst embarked his whole 
army in batteaux, protected by a sloop of sixteen guns, a bri- 
gantine, and a radeau eighty-four feet in length, carrying six 
large cannon. But on the next day the weather growing 
tempestuous, he was compelled to seek shelter in a bay on 
the western shore, where the men were landed for refresh- 
ment. But captain Loring, with his fleet, having sought and 
encountered the enemy, sunk two of his ships, and captured 
a third, which had been run aground and abandoned by the 
crew. The commander-in-chief having been several days 
wind bound, at length made a second attempt to pass down 
the lake ; but, assailed by another storm, and the season for 
action being elapsed, he gave up his design, and returned to 
Crown Point, where he prepared to quarter his troops for the 
winter. 

General Prideaux invested fort Niagara about the middle 
of July. On the twentieth of that month, he was slain, whilst 



374 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [iT^^^ 

visiting the trenches, by the bursting of a cohort, and his com- 
mand devolved upon Sir William Johnson. The enemy, 
with twelve hundred troops, drawn from Detroit, Venango, 
and Presqu'isle, and a number of Indian auxiliaries, approach- 
ed, under the command of M. D'Aubry, to relieve the fort. 
On the evening of the twenty-third. Sir William posted his 
light-infantiy and piquets on the road from the falls to the 
fortress. These he reinforced in the morning with the gre- 
nadiers, and part of the forty-sixth regiment, commanded by 
colonel Massey; another regiment, under lieutenant-colonel 
Farquhar vvas directed to support the guard of the trenches. 
About eight in the morning the enemy appeared, and animat- 
ed by the war-whoop of their allies, attacked the British with 
great impetuosity. But they met with a hot reception in 
front, whilst their rear was vigorously assailed by the English 
Indians. In less than an hour the whole French army was 
routed, and the general and all his officers taken prisoners. 
Immediately after the battle, which was fought in sight of the 
garrison, general Johnson sent a trumpet to the command- 
ing officer, with a list of seventeen officers, taken in the en- 
gagement, and exhorted him, to save further effusion of blood, 
to surrender whilst he had it in his power to restrain bis 
Indians. The commandant, after sending an officer to visit 
the prisoners, immediately capitulated. The garrison, com- 
posed of six hundred and seven effective men, were permitted 
to march out with the honours of war, and to retain their 
baggage; were protected from the insolence and rapacity of 
the Indians, and embarked upon the lake; the women, at 
their own request, for Montreal, and the men for New York. 
This was the second victory obtained during this war by 
Sir William Johnson; in both he captured the commander 
of the enemy. His courage and sagacity, which owed nothing 
to a military education, has received just and unqualified 
praise from the English historians. They have compared 
him with lord Clive, who also was formed by circumstances 
and self-discipline. But military virtue vvas not the only 
ornament of Sir William. His justice, benevolence, and in- 



1759] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 375 

te^rit)'^, gained him the unreserved confidence of the Indians, 
and enabled hinn frequently to temper their ferocity. 

About the close of June, the army of general Wolfe was 
landed on the large fertile and populous island of Orleans, 
situated in the river St. Lawrence, a little below Quebec. 
The major-general was aided by the brigadiers Monckton, 
Tovvnshend, and Murray: all four were in the flower of their 
age, distinguished by their conduct, and eager for further 
fame. The first effort of the English general was to neutral- 
ize the inhabitants of Canada, by a proclamation, declaring the 
object of the war to be the humiliation of the French mo- 
narch, by the reduction of his American possessions; not to 
injure the industrious peasants, their wives, or children, or 
the ministers of religion. On the contrary, commiserating 
the misfortunes to which they were necessaril}^ exposed by 
the quarrel, he tendered them his protection, and promised 
to maintain them in the enjoyment of their estates and reli- 
gion, on condition that they would remain quiet, and take no 
part in the contest; threatening them, in case they refused his 
offers, with vengeance and retaliation for the cruelties exer- 
cised by the French upon the English subjects in America. 
His exhortations were vain. The Canadians preferring their 
country and their duty to the insidious promises of an invad- 
ing enemy, deserted their villages, and submitted their farms 
upon the river to waste and spoil. 

Quebec lies at the confluence of the rivers St. Lawrence 
and St. Charles, and consists of an upper and lower town. The 
lower is built upon the strand, which stretches along the base 
of the lofty rock, on which the upper is situated. This rock 
continues with a bold and steep front far to the westward, 
parallel to, and near the river St. Lawrence. On the east is 
the river St. Charles, which contained several armed vessels 
and floating batteries, protected by a boom drawn across its 
mouth. The channel of this river is rough and broken, and 
its borders intersected by ravines. On its left bank was en- 
camped a French army, of six thousand men, commanded by 
the marquis Montcalm, whose talents and success in the pre- 



375 msTouY of Pennsylvania. [1759 

sent war rendered him a worthy and dangerous antagonist for 
the English general. 

A survey of tiiese obstacles depressed the sanguine hopes 
of Wolfe, who, in his letter to Mr. Pitt, declared, that, even 
befoie commencing his operations, he could not flatter him- 
self with success. Yet, highly sensitive to praise and to 
shame, he resolved to succeed or perish. He seized Point 
Levi, on the southern side of the St. Lawrence, where he 
erected several batteries, which did great injury to the town, 
but made no impression on the works. Nor could he avail 
himself of his ships; the elevation of the principal fortifica- 
tions placing them beyond the reach of the fleet, while the 
river was commanded by the batteries on the shore. He la- 
boured in vain to induce Montcalm to abandon the strong; 
and advantageous post he occupied; and, at length, resolved 
to attack him in his intrenchments. If he prevailed in this 
hardy enterprise, the St. Charles still intervened between him 
and the city; but this he deemed easy to surmount, as a vic- 
torious army finds no difficulties. Thirteen companies of 
English grenadiers, and part of the second battalion of royal 
Americans, were landed near the mouth of the Montmorenci, 
under the cover of the ships of war. The original plan was 
to attack a detached redoubt on the water's edge, apparently 
unprotected by the fire from the intrenchments, in the hope 
that Montcalm's eflbrts to relieve it might bring on a general 
engagement; or, should he suifer it to be captured, that from 
it the English general might better examine the situation and 
resources of the enemy. 

On the apjjroach of the British troops, the redoubt was 
evacuated; and Wolfe, observing some confusion in the French 
camp, resolved to storm it. With this view, he directed the 
grenadiers and Americans to form on the beach, and to wait 
until the whole army could be arranged for their support. 
Orders were despatched to Murray and Townshend to pre- 
pare their divisions for passing the river somewhat higher 
up. But the intemperate valour of the grenadiers and Ame- 
ricans marred these dispositions.* Rushing prematurely and 

• July 31. 



1759] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 3f7 

irregularly upon the enemy, they were received with such 
a steady and constant fire, that, broken and disordered, they 
were compelled to seek shelter under the redoubt, exposed 
to a destructive cannonade. The general advancing with 
the other brigades, the fugitives formed behind these; but, 
discovering his attempt to be hopeless, he drew off his forces, 
with the loss of five hundred men. 

Vexation and despair preyed upon Wolfe's health, and 
brought on fever and dysentery, which rendered him for a 
time totally unable to act with vigour. An effort was made, 
in conjunction with the fleet, to destroy the enemy's ships, 
to land on the northern shore, and provoke the enemy to 
battle; but the ships were too well secured to be approached, 
and two attempts to land proved abortive. A third was more 
successful. By a sudden descent at Chambaud, the English 
burned a considerable magazine, filled with arms, clothing, 
provisions, and ammunition; and they learned from some 
prisoners, the progress of generals Amherst and Johnson. 
Hopeless of approaching the town from below, Wolfe aban- 
doned the isle of Orleans, determined to confine his future 
efforts, to land, above the town. Part of the troops were left 
at Point Levi, and the remainder sailed with the fleet up the 
river. To watch these, Montcalm despatched fifteen hun- 
dred men, under the command of M. de Bourgainville. 

The enterprise had now grown desperate. A great part 
of the season for military operations was spent, and no im- 
pression had been made on the town. A bold and sudden 
stroke alone might obtain success; and such a measure well 
suited the chivalrous spirit of the English general. On the 
west of the city were some heights, called the heights of 
Abraham, accessible from the river by a narrow path only, 
and therefore imperfectly guarded- These commanded the 
town, which, on the land side, was slightly fortified. It was 
resolved to land the troops in the night, and gain these heights. 
The difficulties attending this scheme were numerous. The 
stream was rapid, the shore shelving, the landing-place so 
narrow as to be easily missed in the dark, and the ascent from 



378 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1759 

it was steep and laborious, even to one unopposed. Disco- 
very and vigorous opposition would not only defeat the en- 
terprise, but probably occasion the loss of the greater part of 
the troops engaged in it. To deceive the enemy, the admi- 
ral moved up the river several leagues, and demonstrated an 
intention to debark troops at several places.* During the 
night a strong detachment in flat-bottomed boats fell silently 
down the river, and gained the place of descent an hour be- 
fore day. Wolfe was the first to leap on shore. The high- 
landers and light-infantry, composing the van, under colonel 
Howe, were directed to secure a four gun battery, which de- 
fended the paths of the ascent. They were forced by the 
violence of the current below the point of debarkation, but, 
scrambling up the precipice, by the aid of the projecting 
rocks, and branches of trees and plants growing on the cliffs, 
they gained the heights, and dispersed the guard with little 
difficulty. The whole army followed up the narrow pass, 
encountering a scattered fire, from some Canadians and In- 
dians, with inconsiderable loss,^and gained the summit by the 
break of day. 

When Montcalm learned that the English had gained the 
heights, he determined to give them battle, and instantly put 
his troops in motion. Without loss of time, Wolfe formed 
his line. His right wing he gave to Monckton, and his left to 
Murray. The right flank was covered by the Louisburg gre- 
nadiers, and the left by Howe's infantry. The reserve con- 
sisted of Webb's regiment, drawn up in eight sub-divisions. 
He had but one piece of cannon, which was used with great 
effect. Montcalm formed his right and left wings equally of 
Europeans and colonial troops. He brought two small field- 
pieces to play upon the English lines, and threw fifteen hun- 
dred militia and Indians in advance, who, protected by the 
trees and shrubs, kept up an irregular but galling fire. The 
movements of the French indicating a design to flank his 
left, general Wolfe ordered the battalion of Amherst, with 
two battalions of Americans, to that part of his line, where 

* 12th Sept. 



1759] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 379 

they formed e;?. potence, presenting a double front, under 
general Tovvnshend. Montcalm placed himself on the left 
and Wolfe on the right of their respective armies, and were 
thus opposed to each other where the battle was most se- 
vere. The French advanced impetuously; but the English, 
contemning the irregular troops thrown in advance, had re- 
served their fire until the main body was within forty yards, 
now poured upon it a deadly and continued shower. Wolfe, 
advancing at the head of Bragg's and the Louisburg grena- 
diers with charged bayonets,received a mortal wound, of which 
he soon after expired. The battle was maintained with undi- 
minished spirit under Monckton, who received a ball through 
his body. About the same time, Montcalm, in front of his 
battalions, received his death-wound ; and general Senezer- 
gus, his second in command, also fell. The left and centre 
of the French gave way; and, pressed by the British bayonet 
and broad-sword, were driven, after one attempt to rally, 
partly into Quebec, and partly over St. Charles's river. In 
the left and rear of the English, the action was less severe. 
The light-infantry was placed in house?; and colonel Howe, 
the better to support them, had taken post, with two compa- 
nies, still farther to the left, behind a copse. As the right of 
the enemy approached, he attacked their flanks and threw 
them into disorder. In this critical moment, Tovvnshend 
advanced several platoons of Amherst's regiment against their 
front, and completely frustrated Montcalm's intention of 
turning his flank. Townshend was now informed that the 
command had devolved on him. Hastening to the centre, 
he recalled the troops from pursuit, and re-formed his line. 
This was scarce effected, when M. de Bourgainville appeared 
in his rear, with the force he had employed in guarding the 
river above. But the army of Montcalm was defeated and 
routed, and the English were able to deal with this small di- 
vision, which retired unmolested, as Townshend would not 
risk the Important advantages already gained, by pursuing 
it through a difficult country. 

In this decisive battle, the numbers were equal. But all 
the English were veterans, whilst more than half the French 



380 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1759 

force was composed of Indians and unpractised miliiia, who, 
rendering a feeble support to the regulars, caused them to be 
almost entirely cut to pieces. The English loss was six hun- 
dred killed and wounded, but among the former was the com- 
mander-in-chief. 

The death of this gallant otBcer in the hour of victory, 
rejoicing in his future fame, has shed a romantic interest on 
this battle, which has made it a delightful theme for the poet 
and historian. At the head of his division, he was a distin- 
guished object for the enemy. On the commencement of the 
action, he received a ball in the wrist; but, calmly wrapping 
a handkerchief around his arm, he continued to encourage his 
troops; soon after, a shot struck him in the groin; this wound 
he also concealed; and he was pressing on with the grena- 
diers, when a third bullet pierced his breast. Though expir- 
ing, he reluctantly suflered himself to be conveyed to the 
rear, where his sole solicitude was for the fate of the battle. 
Being told that the enemy was broken, he reclined his head 
in extreme faintness upon the arm of an officer, but was soon 
aroused by the distant cry "they fly, they fly I" "Who 
fly?" said he; being answered, "The French," he exclaimed, 
"Then I die happy!" and instantly expired. 

The brave but unfortunate Montcalm met his fate with 
equal heroism. Devoted to glory, and fearless of death, he 
could not brook his defeat. He joyfully replied, on being 
told that he could survive but a few hours, " So much the 
better, I shall not see the surrender of Quebec." 

General Townshend employed the first days after the bat- 
tle in fortifying his camp, cutting a road up the precipice for 
the conveyance of his heavy artillery, and otherwise preparing 
for the siege of the town. But before his batteries were 
opened the garrison capitulated, on condition that the inha- 
bitants should, during the war, be protected in the free exer- 
cise of their religion, and the full enjoyment of their civil 
rights, leaving their future destiny to be determined by the 
general peace. These favourable terms were granted from 
an apprehension on the part of the English, that the place 
might be relieved by Bourgainville, or by a detachment from 



1T59] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 381 

the army at Montreal. The garrison, consisting of about five 
thousand men, and the captured fleet, sailed for Europe under 
the charge of general Murray. 

The news of this conquest produced in England a delirium 
of joy ; the more vivid, as the nation, from the letters of 
general Wolfe, had anticipated a failure of the expedition. Cap- 
tain Douglass, whose ship bore the first tidings, was knighted, 
and the king bestowed considerable presents on him and 
colonel Hale, the bearer of the despatches. A solemn thanks- 
giving was proclaimed throughout the British dominions. 
The city of London, the universities, and other corporations, 
presented congratulatory addresses to his majesty; and parlia- 
ment voted a monument in Westminster abbey to the deceased 
general, and the thanks of the house to the surviving " gene- 
rals and admirals employed in the glorious and' successful 
expedition to Quebec." 

On the arrival of Mr, Franklin in England, he discover- 
ed that he had many difficulties to contend against.* The 
newspapers were constantly supplied with intelligence from 
Pennsylvania, manufactured in London, misrepresenting the 
motives and conduct of the assembly and inhabitants of the 
province, in their resistance to the claim of the proprietaries. 
The attention of the nation being fixed upon the progress of 
the war in Germany, and its entire ignorance of the Pennsyl- 
vania contest, rendered it indifierent to her complaints; and 
the government was reluctant to interpose in local disputes, 
arising from the ambiguity or even abuse of the royal grants. 
Franklin turned himself to the press, as the familiar and 
natural means of exciting the interest of the public, and of 
eorrecting the proprietary misrepresentations. A proper 
opportunity was afforded him, in consequence of the publica- 
tion of an article in the " Citizen, or General Advertiser," 
reflecting on the conduct of the assembly, for protracting the 
dispute with the governor, and delaying the aj)propriation of 
funds, whilst the savage enemy was preying upon the fron- 
tier. A reply, bearing the name of his son, was inserted in 

* Franklin's Memoirs 



382 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1759 

the same paper, whence it was copied into others, and exten- 
sively circulated. He showed that the exposure of Pennsyl- 
vania to the enemy was not greater than that of the other 
provinces ; that her frontier settlers were armed, and actively 
employed in her defence ; that her energy was repressed by 
the proprietary instructions, and that her inhabitants were 
united in opposing their injustice. He closed with a view 
of the exertions of the province in defence of her own fron- 
tier, and of the general cause, in which she had persevered 
without contribution from other colonics, or from the mother 
country.* The publication of this letter was attended with 
good effect, and encouraged the author to follow it up with a 
more important paper. In the beginning of 175D he pub- 
lished anonymously, his "Historical Review of the Consti- 
tution and Government of Pennsylvania." This work was 
written for party purposes, and therefore contained party 
views and representations. If the honesty of the author 
prevented him from violating truth in regard to the facts, 
his cause did not reject the benefits of partial colouring. The 
work contains copious extracts from the minutes of the coun- 
cil and assembly, connected by many strong and original 
remarks. In examining the conduct of the proprietaries, the 
author has not spared the memory of Penn, much less that of 
his children ; under his hand the character of the early settlers 
of Pennsylvania rises in strong and pleasing relief, and the 
contrast between them and the proprietaries is much to the 
advantage of the former. This work was ascribed to James 
Ralph, a former resident of Philadelphia, and companion and 
friend of Franklin; strict circumspection being observed in 
reo-ard to the real author, who was at the time of its publica- 
tion engaged in negotiating with the proprietaries, and 
labouring to bring the provincial disputes before the privy 
council.t 

In August, 1757, he had presented to the proprietaries a 
short and general remonstrance against their instructions. In 
February, 1759, they sent a long message to the assembly, in 

* Sept. 16, 1757. f Frank. Mem. 



1759] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 383 

which they maintained their general right to instruct their 
deputies, and to require bond from them conditioned for their 
obedience, on the ground of the practice of the proprietary 
and royal governments; and of the danger which must accrue 
to the proprietary estate, if their deputies, dependant upon 
the assembly for support, were left entirely to their own dis- 
cretion. They justified their refusal to pay taxes for their 
quit-rents, on the impropriety of submitting the chief rents 
due to them as lords of the fee, to taxation by the represen- 
tatives of their tenants. " That they might not be accused of 
injustice," they said, ''they had ordered five thousand pounds 
to be paid for the public service out of the arrears of that 
very fund; and now they were willing to have the annual 
income of their estates inquired into, and to contribute what- 
ever such sum should fall short of this proportion of the 
amount raised upon all the inhabitants; but if they had alrea- 
dy contributed more than their portion, they required that 
the overplus should be returned to them. But as they were 
not represented in the assembly, and had a right to dispose 
of their own estates, they insisted that the manner in which 
such portion should be assessed should be settled by commis- 
sioners appointed on the part of themselves and assembly." 
They proposed to settle with Mr. Franklin a bill of supply ; 
but having no authority for this purpose, he declined the pro- 
position. These offers did not tempt the assembly to alter 
their course. They sent to the governor a bill subjecting 
the proprietary estates, as other property, to taxation; and, 
having made several attempts in vain to amend it, he gave it • 
his sanction, without even a protest, that it was forced from 
him by the circumstances of the province. The proprietaries 
opposed this bill before the privy council as subversive of 
their rights, and ruinous to themselves and posterity, subject- 
ing them to all the expenses for the defence and support of 
the province. There were other offensive features in the bill; 
but, after much delay and tedious discussion, it received the 
royal approbation, on the engagement of Franklin, that the 
assembly would admit the participation of the governor in the 
disposal of the public revenue; and would not makt their 



384 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1759 

bills issued under the act a tender in payment of quit-rents; 
and would not assess the located uncultivated lands of the 
proprietaries higher than the lowest rate at which any located 
uncultivated lands belonging to the inhabitants should be as- 
sessed. This was a concession of the very ground of litiga- 
tion, and established by consent of the contending parties, 
and under the authority of government, nearly all which the 
inhabitants of Pennsylvania claimed.* This termination of 
the controversy, beneficial to the province, and honourable to 
Mr. Franklin, their agent, procured for him the agency for 
the colonies of Massachusetts, Maryland, and Georgia. 

In October, governor Denny was superseded by James 
Hamilton, Esq. a second time appointed lieutenant-governor 
of the province. The removal of governor Denny was, in 
consequence of his compliance with the wishes of the assem- 
bly in passing their money bill, and other acts, offensive to 
the proprietaries; he having, as the proprietaries believed, 
sacrificed their interests to promote his own. Nor was this 
improbable. For several years he had received no salary 
from the assembly, but on his assenting to the bill taxing the 
proprietary estates, the house voted him one thousand pounds; 
a like sum on his sanctioning the bill for re-emitting the 
paper currency, without a clause protecting the proprietary 
interests, and a like sum on his passing the act for recording 
of warrants and surveys. 

* Franklin. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Reduction of the arniy"-- Augmentation"«'Money bill'«"Do- 
nation to the town of Boston«-"Grant of parliament to the 
colonies'««'War with the Cherokees'-"Military aftairs in 
Canada""Provincial merits in the \var""Cherokees sue 
for peace««"Death of George II'«"Provincial proceedings 

• •••Requisition of troops refused by the assembly Mo- 

hawks^"'Resignation of Mr. Pilt^'^^New requisitions"" 
Money bill^^^^War with Spain-^^^Measures of assembly-^^^ 
Indians^*^ •Peace between Great Britain, France, and Spain 

• ••Ministerial rebuke of the assembly^ ••Indian war^^ •Expe- 
dition of general Bonquet- •••Money bills^-^ •John Penn, esq. 
deputy-governor. 

The results of the late campaign, whilst they inspirited 
the provinces to new exertions, brouglit peace and security 
to the middle colonies.* The impoverished and exiled agri- 
culturists, to the number of four thousand, returned to their 
labours, which, prosecuted in security, bring contentment and 
competence, whilst the merchant again found sources of wealth 
in the Indian trade. Pennsylvania, oppressed by taxes, and 
largely indebted to the soldiery, gladly seized the occasion 
to reduce her force to one hundred and fifty men, officers in- 
cluded, against the remonstrances of the governor, and the 
generals Amherst and Stanwix. But, on command of the 
crown to furnish a like number of troops as for the last cam- 
paign, the assembly voted twenty-seven hundred men, and 
reported a bill, granting to his majesty's use one hundred 
thousand pounds, for levying, paying, and clothing them. 
This bill had the same features as the last; assessing the pro- 
prietary estates, and preserving to the assembly the disposal 

* 1760. 
49 



386 HISTOUY OF i'KNNSYLVANlA. [l760 

of the money to be raised by the act. The governor ob- 
jected to the bill, and offered an amendment, to equalize the 
assessment, and to reconcile a discrepancy, which he fancied 
existed in its provisions; one section authorizing the provin- 
cial commissioners to dispose of the money, with the con- 
sent and approbation of the governor, whilst anotiier required 
the trustees of the loan-office to pay orders drawn by the 
commissioners only. But the house, seeing no inconsistency 
in the bill, it preserving to them the entire control of the 
public treasure, rejected the amendments, and Mr. Hamil- 
ton, under a protest that his assent was extorted by the cir- 
cumstances of the country, gave it his sanction. 

The resolution of the house, not to admit the executive to 
participate in the disposition of the public treasure, was still 
further displayed during this session. Mr. Pitt had kept 
his promise to recommend to parliament to reimburse the co- 
lonies for their pecuniary expenses. A conviction that they 
had paid more than their proportion, induced that body to 
appropriate two hundred thousand pounds a year, for five 
years, for their relief. The portion of Pennsylvania was 
twenty-six thousand pounds of the first year's grant. To 
enable their agents to receive this money, the assembly sent 
to the governor certain resolutions, continuing Messrs. Frank- 
lin and Charles agents of the |)rovince, and requesting him 
to certify their appointment under the great seal. He refused 
this, unless the house would consent to prohibit their agents 
from receiving the money until authorized by law, or with- 
out the consent and approbation of the governor. The 
house directed the clerk to make affidavit of this refusal, 
contrary to the usual practice, and to obtain a notary's authen- 
tication of their resolutions; and they instructed their agents 
immediately to obtain the money, and deposit it in the bank 
of England, sul)ject to the drafts of the province. The mo- 
ney, however, was paid to Franklin alone, and by him was 
vested in the English funds. On, sale of the slock thus pur- 
chased, a considerable loss was sustained, which his enemies 
endeavoured, unsuccessfully, to charge upon him. 

The town of Boston having been afflicted by a grievous 



17603 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 387 

conflagration, the assembly of Pennsylvania, on the applica- 
tion of governor Pownal, of Massachusetts, and at the in- 
stance of Mr. Hamilton, generously granted to the sufferers 
the sum of fifteen hundred pounds. 

At the instances of the French of Louisiana, the Chero- 
kees, a nation of Indians on the south of Virginia, com- 
menced war upon the southern provinces, which they prose- 
cuted with the usual barbarity of the North American savage. 
Upon the first hostile indications, governor Littleton of South 
Carolina, at the head of eight hundred provincials, and three 
hundred regulars, penetrated their country with such prompti- 
tude and vigour, that the intimidated chiefs sued for peace 
upon the governor's terms — renouncing the French interest, 
giving up the French emissaries, and surrendering their pri- 
soners; and, foi- the j)erformance of these conditions, giving 
as hostages thirty-two chiefs, who had gone to Charleston, 
to deprecate the anger of the English, and had been re-con- 
ducted to their country under the charge of the army. These 
hostages were lodged at fort George. Scarce had the army 
retired from the frontiers, when the Indians endeavoured to 
release them, and, in the execution of their attempt, they 
killed the captain of the fort, and wounded two inferior offi- 
cers. Orders were immediately given to put the hostages 
in irons; but, indignant at this treatment, they turned their 
knives upon those about to execute these commands; one of 
whom they killed. An instant massacre of all the chiefs 
succeeded; and their nation again flew to arms, and vented 
their fury by the indiscriminate murder of the English in- 
habitants. 

General Amherst despatched colonel Montgomery, with a 
detachment of twelve hundred regulars, to South Carolina, 
with instructions to strike a sudden blow against the enemy, 
and to return to New York in season to march with the army 
against Montreal. The colonists made great exertions to 
second him, and to render a single expedition conclusive of 
the war. The joint forces entered the lower settlements of 
the Indians, destroyed their towns, burned their magazines 
of corn, and wasted their fields. But near the villi<ge of 



o88 HISTOUY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1760 

Etchoo, in an almost impenetrable wood, the English en- 
countered a large body of savages, and received so severe a 
check, that they deemed it prudent to retire upon fort George, 
whence colonel Montgomery departed for New York; leaving, 
at the entreaty of the inhabitants, four companies to aid in 
defence of the frontier. In the meantime, the Indians en- 
compassed fort Loudon, and, by famine, compelled the garri- 
son, consisting of two hundred men, to capitulate, on condi- 
tion of being permitted to march into the settlements. But 
this condition was not preserved. They were attacked on 
their march, many of them slaughtered, and the remainder 
carried away prisoners. 

During the winter, the French made great exertions to 
retrieve their affairs in Canada. A force of near ten thou- 
sand men was collected about Montreal, under the command 
of M. de Levi; who at first formed the design of carrying 
Quebec by a coup-de-main, but which he abandoned on a 
nearer view of the strength and vigilance of the garrison; 
and resolved to wait the return of spring, and the breaking 
up of the ice on the river, for the commencement of the 
siege. In the month of April, he transported his baggage, 
artillery, and stores, by the St. Lawrence, under convoy of 
six frigates, a naval force greatly superior to the English, and 
marched his army by land in ten days to Point au Tremble. 

General Murray had, with great industry, strengthened 
the town upon the land side. But the excessive coldness of 
the climate, and the want of vegetables and fresh provisions, 
had reduced the garrison from five to three thousand effec- 
tive men. With this small force, he resolved to hazard a 
battle; believing, should he be defeated, the excellence of his 
troops would enable him to retreat into the town, and hold 
the enemy at bay. He attacked the French with great im- 
petuosity near Sillery; but, being received with unexpected 
firmness, and perceiving M. de Levi preparing to pass his 
flanks, he drew off his army, and retired into the city, with 
the loss of a thousand men; consoled, however, with having 
made much greater havoc upon the enemy. 



1760] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 389 

Sensible that every day brought relief nearer to his foe, 
the French commander hastened his operations; but still was 
unable, from the difficulty of bringing up his heavy artillery, 
to mount his batteries for a fortnight. By that time, Murray 
had completed some out-works, and had placed upon his 
ramparts so formidable a train, that his fire was superior to 
that of the besiegers. But still his situation became hourly 
more perilous; he was at length relieved by the arrival of a Bri- 
tish fleet in the river, at a season in which the navigation is 
not ordinarily practicable. M. de Levi immediately raised 
the siege, and retired with, precipitation to Montreal. At 
this place the marquis de Vaudreiul, governor-general of Ca- 
nada, collected his whole force; flattering himself that the 
attack upon him might be delayed until the approach of win- 
ter should render it impracticable, or yield him advantages 
in the contest. But general Amherst had a force competent 
to the utter annihilation of the French in Canada, and was 
too ambitious to effect this object, to procrastinate his efforts. 
The armies of Quebec, lake Champlain, and lake Ontario, 
were directed simultaneously on Montreal. With his own 
corps, composed of ten thousand British and provincials, and 
one thousand Indians, under sir William Johnson, progress- 
ing by the way of lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence, he ar- 
rived before the town on the very day that general Murray 
reached it from below. Colonel Haviland, with the forces 
from Crown Point, having made himself master of the Isle 
au Noix, St. Johns, and Chamblee, joined them a few days 
after. Before this overwhelming power, resistance was vain. 
The marquis, therefore, in the month of September, surren- 
dered, by capitulation, Montreal, Detroit, and all other places 
in Canada, to his Britannic majesty. The French troops were 
to be transported to France, and the Canadians to be protected 
in their property and religion. 

Thus fell the great power of France in America. Possessed 
of the northern and southern parts of the continent, her en- 
croachments became formidable to the British American 
empire. Her inordinate ambition goaded her into an attempt 
to confine her adversary to a narrow slip of sea coast, and 



390 HISTOKY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1761 

brought upon her the united power of the mother and her 
colonies; a force which she baffled when feebly directed, but 
which was irresistible in the hands of a wise and energetic 
ministry. 

The share of the provincials in this grand result is too 
honourable to the early history of America to be passed over 
without special notice. They had kept in the field an average 
force of twenty-five thousand men during the war, and con- 
tributed three millions five hundred thousand pounds sterling 
to the paj'ment of its expenses.* Four hundred privateers 
from their ports "ravaged the French West India Islands, 
and distressed the commerce of France in all parts of the 
world." Their troops preserved the remains of the army 
wrecked by the folly of Braddock, and under Monckton cap- 
tured Beau Sejour, in Nova Scotia. Commanded by Sir 
William Johnson, they destroyed the army of baron Dieskau, 
took the general prisoner, and subsequently reduced fort 
Niagara, one of the most important posts on the continent. 
The merit of these actions is to be ascribed to them solely. 
In all the marches and battles they were principal sufferers ; 
and where honour was to be gained, the provincial was dis- 
tinguished by his fortitude in adversity, and his promptitude 
and courage in the hour of peril. 

The subjugation of Canada left general Amherst leisure to 
attend to the distresses of the south. Late in May (1761) 
colonel Grant arrived at fort Prince George, with a strong 
detachment, which was reinforced by a body of colonists and 
friendly Indians. Early in June these entered the Cherokee 
country, beat the Indians in a battle fought near the spot 
where colonel Montgomery had been checked; and by the 
confiagration of their towns, the destruction of their crops, 
and the general waste of the district, compelled them again 
to sue for peace. 

George the second died on the twenty-fifth of October, 
1760. Official information of his death, and of the accession 
of his grandson, George III. having been received in Peniisyl- 

* Walsh's Appeal. 



1761] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. ^91 

vania, the latter was proclaimed king with much solemnity 
on the twenty-first of January, at the court house in Phila- 
delphia, by the governor, attended by the mayor, recorder, 
governor's council, members of assembly, magistrates, the 
clergy, members of common council, and the principal inha- 
bitants, amid the acclamations of the people, the discharge of 
cannon and musketry, and ringing of bells. At the same time 
the proclamation of the new king was published, continuing 
incumbents in their offices pursuant to act of 6 Anne. A 
public entertainment was given at the Fountain tavern by the 
governor, and another at the ferry on Schuylkill by the mer- 
chants and other citizens. 

The whole of the forces raised by the province of Pennsyl- 
vania had been discharged at the close of the last campaign, 
except one hundred and fifty men, a part of whom were em- 
ployed in transporting provisions from Niagara, and in gar- 
rison at Presqu'isle and Le Beof. These were detained until 
they should be relieved by a detachment of the royal Ame- 
ricans, but such was the weakness of that regiment, that this 
had hitherto been impracticable. The remainder was in gar- 
rison at forts Allen and Augusta. The latter, situated at the 
forks of the Susquehannah, commanded both branches of that 
river, which rendered its preservation highly important. 
The governor urged the assembly to provide means to pay 
the troops for the time they had remained in service beyond 
their contract,. and to maintain fort Augusta. To the latter 
the house assented after much debate, voting a guard of thirty 
men; but the former they promptly refused, referring the 
men for payment to the crown, by which they were em- 
ployed. 

The king required of the province for the year 1761 two- 
thirds of the force she had brought into the field during the 
last campaign. The despatches containing these commands 
weresentfrom England inDecember,(1760,)but the Leicester 
packet which conveyed them was captured by the enemy. 
The triplicates did not arrive until March. They were laid 
before the assembly in April, who instantly refused to com- 
ply with the requisition; nor could the expostulations or 



392 HISTOKY OV PENNSYLVANIA. [^1762 

chidings of the governor and the general induce them to alter 
their resolution, further than to direct the levy of tive hun- 
dred men, upon the assurance of the general that they should 
not be sent from the province. The supply bill of 1760 
was similar in its provisions to that of 1759, and contained 
all the objectionable features of that act, and the apprehen- 
sion, fancied or real, which the house entertained of its abro- 
gation, and the consequent discredit of the bills issued under 
it, afforded them a plausible excuse to decline new engage- 
ments, which might oblige them to issue additional paper 
money. 

But such apprehension did not restrain them from sending 
to the governor a like bill, forissuing thirty thousand pounds 
for the expenses of the current year, which he rejected, pro- 
posing to use the money received by the provincial agent 
from the crown, but the house adhering to their bill, no ap- 
propriation was made.* 

Mr. Pitt having been overruled in council on his proposi- 
tion to declare war against Spain, resigned his place, which 
was filled by the earl of Egremont. By letter from that 
nobleman, the assembly of Pennsylvania was required to fur- 
nish the like number of provincial forces as in the last year, 
with four hundred and eighty-two recruits for the regular 
army, giving to the latter such bounty for enlistment as had 
been given to the provincial troops; on the part of his majes- 
ty five pounds was promised to every able-bodied man, be- 
tween the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, enlisting in 
the service. The assembly promptly voted one thousand 
men to be levied, clothed, and paid by the province until the 
twenty-fifth of November; but they unanimously refused the 
recruits, because the province was greatly drained of its 

* A curious perversion of intellect, once at least paralleled in London, 
discovered itself in some persons in Philadelphia during the winter of the 
present year. Some person or persons followed the women found in the 
streets in the evening, and wounded several of them severely, par derriere, 
with some sharp instrument provided for tliat purpose. Instances of this 
kind of violence were so frecpient, that the assembly ofl'ered a reward of 
fifty pounds for the detection of each offender. 



1762 J HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 393 

population, by having furnished a greater number of regulars 
than had been raised by all the other colonies. -^ 

The vote for the provincial forces was rendered nugatory 
by the failure of the supply bill. The house sent to the go- 
vernor the draught of an act for issuing bills of credit for 
seventy thousand pounds, to be redeemed in part by thirty 
thousand pounds of the money granted by parliament, and the 
residue by the extension of the excise on spirituous liquors 
until the year 1772. But as this bill also possessed all the 
features condemned by the privy council, embracing and pro- 
viding for all the fiscal wants of the government, instead of 
being confined to one object ; placing the revenue solely at 
the discretion of the assembly, and making no provision for 
the proprietary rents, the governor refused to give it his 
sanction. 

The war with Spain, predicted by Mr. Pitt, being at length 
declared,* the governor convened the assembly in May, for 
the purpose of communicating to them the intelligence, and 
obtaining means for the defence of Philadelphia, which he 
represented to be in great danger, inviting the enemy by ils 
weakness and its wealth. The house, «!ensible of the dangers 
arising from the union of France and Spain, with great alacri- 
ty appropriated twenty-three thousand five hundred pounds, 
the parliamentary allotment for 1759, to this object, and re- 
solved to erect a fort, mounting twenty cannon, on Mud island, 
at the confluence of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, com- 
manding the navigation of both, for which they voted five 
thousand pounds. 

During this summer, the governor held a treaty with Bea- 
ver and Shingas, chiefs of the Delaware tribe of Indians, who 
had received no presents since the cessation of hostilities. 
Fearful of admitting these visiters into the populous parts of 
the country, the treaty was held at Lancaster; where several 
tribes from the Ohio, and many individuals from the Six nations, 
also attended, to brighten and strengthen the chain they had 
resolved soon to break; yet, in testimony of their sincerity, 

• 4tli Jan. 1762, 
50 



:^94 HTSTOUY OV PENNSYLVANIA. [l763 

they delivered up several captives they had taken during the 
war, and promised to restore in a short time all others re- 
maining among tliem. 

The assembly, in the present year, patronised a new edi- 
tion of the laws, by Weiss and Millar, taking two hundred 
copies, which they directed to be distributed among the 
judges, magistrates, and other officers; caused copies taken, 
by virtue of an act for that purpose, of the papers and docu- 
ments in the secretary's and surveyor's office, to be authenti- 
cated ; purchased the remaining lots on the square on which 
the State-house now stands; passed an act for the suppres- 
sion of lotteries; and one for paving the streets of Phila- 
delphia; and incorporated the southern suburbs of the city 
into a district called Southwark. 

Richard Peters, having grown weary of his station of se- 
cretary of the province, and clerk of the council, resigned 
these of!ices,^ind was succeeded by Joseph Shippen on the 
second of January, 1762. 

The war against France and Spain was not of long con- 
tinuance; peace being made with both on the third of No- 
vember, 1762. Our subject requires us to notice the terms 
of the treaty so far only as they affected the colonies, France 
surrendered her pretensions to Nova Scotia, and ceded Ca- 
nada, including Louisiana; Spain yielded Florida. In ex- 
change for this mighty domain, France received the islands 
of St. Pierre, and Miquelon, near Newfoundland, with a re- 
stricted privilege of the fishery, and the islands of Marti- 
nique, Guadaloupe, Marigalante, Deseada, and St. Lucia: Spain 
obtained the restoration of the Havanna — a price more than 
adequate for Florida; which vvould not have been paid, but 
with the design of preserving the eastern shore of North 
America from foreign influence. 

The. successful efforts of Mr. Pitt to conquer Canada, were 
made upon the advice of Dr. Franklin, and the agency of 
this distinguished American was fortunately effective in de- 
termining the British ministry on its retention, against those 
who preferred to it acquisitions in the West Indies. On a 
prospect of peace with France, in conjunction with Mr. 



1763] ItlSTOKY OF PENNSYLVANIA. ^9 S 

Richard Jackson, he wrote a pamphlet, entitled " The inte- 
rests of Great Britain considered, with regard to the colo- 
nies, and the acquisition of Guadaloupe;" exhibiting clearly 
and forcibly the advantages resulting from the retention of 
Canada; demonstrating that the security of a dominion is a 
proper cause for demanding a cession of territory from an 
enemy ; that forts in the back settlements were inadequate for 
defence against the French and Indians; and that present 
and future peace and security could be found only in the 
possession of Canada.* 

The tidings of the pacification were communicated to go- 
vernor Hamilton by the earl of Egremont; who commanded 
him to express to the assembly his majesty's high displeasure 
at their artful evasion of his last requisitions, in gi'anting with 
seeming cheerfulness one thousand provincials, which their ob- 
stinate adherence to theirsupply bill, containing several clauses 
that had been disapproved by the king in council, defeated; 
and to inform them that the king considered such conduct as 
proceeding from a predetermination not to afford any assist- 
ance to the general service when the immediate danger was 
removed from their own door; and thai such conduct, equally 
with their absolute refusal to furnish recruits for the regular 
forces, had incurred his majesty's just displeasure. This un- 
grateful commission Mr. Hamilton executed with much deli- 
cacy, by laying the original letter of the earl before the as- 
sembly without comment. The house entered it upon their 
minutes, but gave it no further attention.! 

During the summer. Dr. Franklin returned to Pennsylva- 
nia, rich in the confidence of his constituents, and in the 
esteem and affection of those with whom he had lately dwell. 
During his residence in England, he received the degree of 
doctor of laws, from the universities of St. Andrews, PJdin- 
burgh, and Oxford, aixl was eagerly admitted a member of 
most other learned societies in Europe. These were merited 
rewards for his philosophical discoveries. He had retained 
his seat in the assembly of Pennsylvania, by annual election, 

* Franklin's Memoirs. f Votes. Min. of Council. 



396 lUSTOKY OV PKNNSYLVANIA. [1763 

during the whole term of his absence ; and at the October 
election after his arrival was again returned fronfi the city of 
Philadelphia. The house voted him five hundred pounds 
per annum for the six years of his absence, and directed their 
speaker to tender him their thanks from the chair.* 

The province of Pennsylvania "now looked for the enjoy- 
ment of a long and undisturbed peace; since her mild and 
forbearing policy had conciliated the Indians, and their dan- 
gerous neighbours, the French, were removed. But the sources 
in which she sought for safety, were fruitful of dangers. The 
unprotected state of the frontiers, consequent on the discharge 
of the forces of the middle and southern colonies, held forth 
irresistible temptations to the whetted appetite of the border 
savages for plunder. Their hostility had been rewarded ra- 
ther than chastised by Pennsylvania; every treaty of peace 
was accompanied by rich presents, and their detention of the 
prisoners was overlooked upon slight apologies, though ob- 
viously done to afford opportunities for new treaties, and ad- 
ditional gifts. The mistaken and perverted humanity of the 
<' Friendly Association" had softened down their offences, 
and its apologies gave them confidence in their allegations of 
injuries received from the whites. These reasons, however, 
are insufficient to account for the wide extension of the 
Indian confederacy, which was probably caused by motives 
of profound policy. The aborigines beheld the French 
driven out of their whole country, themselves threatened by 
forts commanding the great lakes and rivers, and they felt 
that an immediate and mighty effort was necessary to restrain 
the tide, which now unimpeded would spread itself over the 
continent. 

A secret confederacy was formed among the Shawanese, 
the tribes upon the Ohio and its tributary waters, and about 
Detroit, to attack simultaneously allthe English posts and 
settlements on the frontiers. Their plan was deliberately 
and skilfully projected. The border settlements were to be 
invaded during harvest, the men, corn, and cattle, to be de- 

* Votes, 



1763] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 397 

stroyed, and the outposts to be reduced by famine, by cut- 
ting off their supplies. Pursuant to this plan, the Indians 
fell suddenly upon the traders, whom they had invited among 
them, murdered many, and plundered the effects of all, to an 
immense value. The frontiers of Pennsylvania, Maryland, 
and Virginia, were overrun by scalping parties, marking 
their way with blood and devastation. The outforts, even 
the most remote, were assailed about the same time. Le 
Boeuf, Venango, and Presq'isle, on and near lake Erie; 
La Ray, upon lake Michigan ; St. Joseph's, upon a river of 
tliat name; Miamis, upon the Miamis river; Ouachtanon, 
upon the Wabash river; Sandusky, and Michilimackinack,fell 
into the hands of the savages, who barbarously murdered the 
garrisons. These forts, in the security of general peace, were 
weakly manned, and now their intercourse with the colonies, 
and each other, being interrupted, the garrisons were sepa- 
rately persuaded that the others were captured, and fell with- 
out much resistance. Niagara, Detroit, and fort Pitt, larger, 
and belter garrisoned, were prepared to withstand a longer 
siege. General Amherst, unable to save the remote posts, 
confined himself to the relief of these forts. Niagara was 
not attacked, the enemy judijing it too strong. Major Glad- 
win, who commanded at iJttioit, had to sustain the united 
and vigorous attacks of the nations living upon the lakes. A 
detachment, under captain Dalzell, was sent to Detroit, with 
orders to leave a reinforcement at Niagara. Having succeeded 
in the latter, they arrived at the former on the twenty-ninth 
of July, 1763, with the loss of seventy men and their com- 
mander. 

About the first of June, the scalping parties perpetrated 
some murders in the vicinity of fort Pitt. Upon receipt of 
this intelligence, governor Hamilton, with the assistance of 
the provincial commissioners, immediately reinforced the gai^- 
rison at Augusta, and sent out small parties to protect the 
frontiers. As the first attack was not immediately followed 
up by the Indians, the government was willing to believe it 
to have been the effect of some private resentments, rather 
than of a general combination for war. But such hopes were 



*>98 HISTOUY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1763 

tlissipateil by inroads upon the settled parts of the province, 
and the flight of the inhabitants to the interior. 

The whole country west of Shippensburg became the prey 
of the fierce barbarians. They set fire to houses, barns, corn, 
hay, and every thing that was combustible. The wretched 
inhabitants whom they surprised at night, at their meals, or 
in the labours of the fields, were massacred with the utmost 
cruelty and barbarity; and those who fled were scarce more 
happy. Overwhelmed by sorrow, without shelter, or means 
of transportation, tlieir tardy flight was impeded by fainting 
women and weeping children. The inhabitants of Shippens- 
burg and Carlisle, now become the barrier towns, opened their 
hearts and their houses to their alilicted brethren. In the 
towns, every stable and hovel was crowded with misera- 
ble refugees, who, having lost their houses, their cattle, and 
their harvest, were reduced from independence and happiness 
to beggary and despair. The streets were filled with people; 
the men, distracted, by grief for their losses, and the desire 
of revenge, more poignantly excited by the disconsolate fe- 
males and bereaved children, who wailed around them. In 
the woods, for some miles, on both sides of the Susquehannah, 
many families, with their cattle, sought shelter, being unable 
to find it in the towns. The citizens of Philadelphia hastened 
to contribute to their relief. Large sums were collected by 
subscription from individuals and associations in the city, and 
in all the counties of the province, and judiciously applied for 
the relief of the sufferers. 

After the first panic had passed away, the refugee settlers 
associated themselves together, and, under the care of divi- 
sions of the regular troops and militia, succeeded in collecting 
and saving the remnant of their crops. 

In the latter end of August, a party of volunteers from Lan- 
caster county, one hundred and ten in number, intercepted at 
Muncey creek hill, a number of Indians, proceeding from 
Great Island, in the Susquehannah, to the frontier settlements 
of the province. The Indians, who were about fifty in num- 
ber, were compelled to fly, after a half hour's sharp firing. 
They renewed the, ?ttack, however, twice on the next day, 



J763] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 399 

but without success. In these skirmishes the Indians lost 
twelve killed, and many wounded; the provincials, four 
killed, and as many wounded. 

Colonel Armstrong collected a force of about three hundred 
volunteers from the vicinity of Shippensburg, Bedford, and 
Carlisle, under captains Laughlin, Patterson, jr. Bedford, 
Crawford, Sharp, and others, for the purpose of attacking the 
settlements of Muncey and the Great Island. This little army 
left fort Shirley, on the Aughwick, on the thirtieth of Septem- 
ber, in high hopes of surprising the enemy, and inflicting 
upon them a severe punishment. But on their arrival they 
discovered that the Indians had left their settlement some 
days before. Colonel Armstrong having learned that there 
was a small village called Myonaghquia, to which it was sup- 
posed the savages had retired, pushed on with a party of one 
hundred and fifty men, and travelled with such expedition 
and secrecy, that the enemy, a few only in number, were 
scarce able to escape, leaving their food hot upon their bark 
tables, which were prepared for dinner. The army destroyed 
at this village, and at Great Island, a large quantity of grain 
and other provisions. 

Fort Pitt was in the mean time surrounded, and cut ofl' 
from all communication with the government. The Indians 
posted themselves under the banks of the Allegheny and 
Monongahela rivers, and poured upon the garrison from day 
to day an incessant storm of musketry and fire arrows. But 
captain Ewyer, and the garrison, which had been increased 
by the traders who had escaped the Indians, displayed equal 
patience and resolution in their defence. General Amherst 
appointed colonel Bouquet to march to their relief, with a 
large quantity of military stores and provisions, which, for 
want of other troops, was to be escorted by the shattered re- 
mainder of the forty-second and seventy-seventh regiments, 
yet suffering from their labours at the siege of Havanna. 

Colonel Bonquet commenced his march at the beginning 
of July. Early orders had been given to prepare a convoy 
of provisions on the frontier, but the affrighted inhabitants 
had done nothing when the colonel arrived at Carlisle. A 



400 HISTORY OK PENNSYLVANIA. [176.1 

great number of the plantations and mills were destroyed^ 
and notwithstanding the province had endeavoured to save 
the harvest by raising seven hundred men to guard the fron- 
tiers, in many places the full ripe crops stood waving in 
the field, soliciting the hand of the reaper. The habita- 
tions in the greatest part of the county of Cumberland, through 
which the army had to pass, was deserted, and the roads were 
covered with families destitute of the necessaries of life, fly- 
ing from their homes. The supplies of provisions, horses, 
and carriages, had become precarious, whilst the commander 
was required by humanity to apportion his own stock to re- 
lieve the sufferers. But, after eight days of active exertion 
on the part of himself and agents, provisions and carriages 
were procured, with assistance from the interior part of the 
country. 

The force of the colonel did not exceed five hundred men^ 
veterans of approved courage and resolution, but infirm in 
health, and strangers to the woods and the Indian mode of 
warfare. A number of them were unable to march on foot, 
and sixty were carried in wagons, to reinforce the small posts 
on the route. The inhabitants on the frontier had no confi- 
dence in the power of this small army, and declining to join 
it, they awaited in despondency its defeat, to abandon the 
country beyond the Susquehannah. 

Colonel Bonquet's first object was to relieve fort Ligonier, 
situated beyond the Allegheny mountains. This place was 
very important, on account of the stores it contained, which, 
in possession of the enemy, would enable them to persevere 
in their attack on fort Pitt, and to reduce the army to the 
greatest straits. He despatched a party of thirty men, who 
succeeded in joining the garrison, being undiscovered by the 
enemy until within sight of the fort, into which they threw 
themselves, after receiving some running shot. 

The army advanced to the remote verge of the settlements, 
without intelligence of the number, position, or motions of 
the enemy. But the Indians had regular and correct intelli- 
gence of the proceedings of the English, and having learned 
the advance of the troops, broke up the siege of fort Pitt, with 



1763] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 401 

the resolution to attack them on their march. In this state 
of uncertainty the commander deemed it prudent to leave his 
wagons at fort Ligonier, and to proceed with pack horses. 
Before him lay a dangerous defile at Turtle creek, several 
miles in length, commanded the whole way by high and 
craggy hills. This he purposed to pass by a forced march 
the ensuing night, after a short delay to refresh his troops 
at Bushy Run.* 

When within a half mile of that place, about one o'clock 
in the afternoon, his advance guard was attacked by the In- 
dians, but being speedily and firmly supported, the enemy 
was beaten off, and pursued some distance; but when the 
pursuit ceased, they returned with vigour to the attack, whilst 
several other parties who had been concealed among the 
heights along the English flanks, discovered themselves, and 
poured in an obstinate and destructive fire. A general charge 
was necessary to dislodge them, but it produced no decisive 
advantage; for as soon as the savages were driven from one 
post they appeared at another; and, reinforcements coming 
in, they at length surrounded the whole detachment, and 
attacked the convoy in the rear. To protect this, the main 
body was compelled to fall back, and ihough assailed with 
great vivacity, its steadiness and courage preserved it from 
confusion, and it finally succeeded, with fixed bayonets, in 
repelling the enemy from all their posts, when the fall of 
night prevented further operations. 

The colonel encamped on the battle ground, placing the 
convoy and the wounded in the middle, the troops disposed 
in a circle, encompassing the whole. In this manner the 
army passed a wakeful and anxious night, obliged to the 
strictest vigilance by the enterprising enemy surrounding 
them. The morning was awakened by the shouts and yells 
of the foe, who, at the distance of five hundred yards, encir- 
cled the camp, and endeavoured in this way to create terror 
by their numbers and ferocity. Boldly attacking the lines, 
they strove, under an incessant fire, lo penetrate them; and, 

* Aiig-iist 51 li, 1763. 



402 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1763 

though often repulsed, were never discouraged. The British 
troops, though continually victorious, Avere in continual 
danger; suffering under the fatigues of the long march and 
action of the preceding day, and by the total want of water, 
more intolerable than the enemy's fire. To change their po- 
sition was impracticable, without endangering the loss of their 
convoy and wounded. Many of the horses were lost, and 
the drivers of others, stupified by fear, were hidden in the 
bushes, incapable of hearing or obeying orders. Their situa- 
tion became extremely perplexing and critical ; their most 
active efforts making no impression upon the enemy, who 
gave way when pressed, but resumed his position when the 
impulse was withdrawn. Besieged rather than engaged, at- 
tacked without interruption, and without decision, unable to 
advance or retreat, they had the dreadful apprehension of 
crumbling away by degrees, unhonoured and unavenged. 
They were saved from the fate of Braddock by the superior 
skill of their commander. Sensible that every thing depended 
upon bringing the savages to a close combat, which they 
might not discontinueat pleasure, he resolved to increase and 
to profit by their confidence, which had grown with their 
success. For this purpose he contrived the following strata- 
gem. The troops slill remaining in the situation of the 
night, he ordered two companies, most advanced, to fall 
witliin the circle^and their places to be filled by opening the 
files to the right and left. A company of infantry, and one 
of grenadiers, were placed in ambush to support the two first, 
who moved on the feigned retreat, but were designed to begin 
the real attack. The Indians fell into the snare. Mistaking 
these movements for a retreat, they abandoned the woods 
which covered them, advancing intrepidly, but without order, 
pouring in a galling fire. But at the moment when Ihey fan- 
cied themselves certain of success, and masters of the camp, 
the retreating companies suddenly turned upon them, from a 
part of the hill where they could not be observed, and fell 
furiously on their right Hank. The Indians resolutely resist- 
ed, but on the second charge, unable to sustain themselves 
against disciplined numbers, they gave way, and fled, leaving 



1763] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 40S 

many dead upon the ground. At this instant the troops in 
ambush gave them their full fire, and the four companies 
united in the pursuit, until the enemy was totally dispersed. 
The Indians, upon the other quarters, were kept in awe during 
the engagement by the rest of the troops, who were ready to 
fall upon them on the least motion. Having witnessed the 
defeat of their companions, without any effort to support 
them, they at length followed their example, and retired, 
leaving the road to fort Pitt unobstructed. But one of the 
main objects of the expedition was lost by the necessity of 
destroying a large portion of the provisions, in consequence 
of the number of horses killed duiing the engagement. The 
loss of the enemy in killed was about sixty; that of the Eng- 
lish, about fifty, together with sixty wounded. Four days 
after the battle the colonel, with the remainder of his convoy, 
reached fort Pitt, against which the savages no longer pro- 
secuted any designs, having retreated to their remote settle- 
ments. 

The colonel, not having sufficient force to pursue the enemy 
beyond the Ohio, nor reason to expect a timely reinforce- 
ment, and having distributed his supplies of provision, am- 
munition, and stores, among the posts, secured his army 
against the approaching winter. He was rewarded for his 
conduct on this occasion, by the approbation of the king, pub- 
lished in general orders in New York, in the following Ja- 
nuary. 

This expedition of colonel Bouquet served in a great mea- 
sure to employ the Indians, and to protect, for some time, the 
frontiers of Pennsylvania from their devastations. And had 
the assembly been properly seconded, an effectual defence 
would have been provided. They voted eight hundred men, 
to serve until December, and passed a bill for raising twenty- 
five thousand pounds for their mainlainance. But this bill 
V)eing modelled after those which had already been rejected, 
met with a like fate. But the next assembly, urged by new 
outrages of the Indians, committed in Northampton county, 
appropriated twenty-four thousand pounds to the public de- 
fence; twelve thousand pounds from the pailiamentary allot- 



404 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. (l763 

mcnts in the liands of the trustees of the loan-onicc, seven 
thousand from the sum granted for fortifying the city, one 
thousand from the duties upon mulatto and negro slaves, and 
four thousand from the fund established for the Indian trade. 
As the winter approached, and the dread of the regular 
forces subsided, the savages commenced and prosecuted their 
outrages on the northern and western frontier, and, occasion- 
ally, penetrated the interior counties. They seldom appeared 
in force, and when they did, were uniformly defeated and 
routed by the rangers, or parties of the inhabitants; but 
in small parties, stealing through the woods, they attacked 
the settlers in their houses in the dead of the night, or whilst 
engaged in their occupations in the fields; burning houses 
and barns, and slaughtering men, women, and children. Some- 
times these parties were discovered and pursued, and, when 
overtaken, shot or bayonetted without mercy. The road to 
fort Pitt was again interrupted. A supply of provisions, 
under the convoy of sixty men, was forwarded from Bedford 
to fort Pitt, but, on gaining the foot of the Allegheny 
mountains, was compelled to return, having learned that the 
passages were occupied by the savages. Some fragments of 
the Delaware and Six nation tribes remained at their settle- 
ments in the interior, refusing to join their brethren in arms, 
professing affection to the colonists, and avowing a deter- 
mination to continue neutral. But the neutrality of a part at 
least of these Indians was very doubtful. Many outrages 
were committed in consequence, as was generally believed, 
of the information and advice they gave to the invaders; and 
some murders were perpetrated, which the public voice 
ascribed to a party under the protection of the Moravian bre- 
thren. (1) 

A conviction that these professed friends were secret ene- 
mies, aroused in some inhabitants of Lancaster county, where 
those murders were perpetrated, a spirit not less savage than 
that of the ruthless aborigines, and a determination to extir- 
pate them. In prosecution of this design, a number of armed 
and mounted men, principally from Donnegal and Paxtung or 
(1) See note 2 U, Appendix. 



1763] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 405 

Paxton townships, attacked an Indian village, occupied by 
the remains of a tribe of the Six nations, on the Conestoga 
manor, and barbarously massacred some women and children, 
and a few old men; amongst the latter, the chief, Shaheas, 
who had always been distinguished for his friendship to- 
wards the whites.* The majority of the Indian villagers 
were abroad at the time of the attack, and to protect them 
against the perpetrators of this inhuman action, were placed 
under the protection of the magistrates, in the workhouse, 
at Lancaster. But the fury of the people was not yet 
allayed. Assembling in greater numbers, they forced the 
prison, and butchered all the miserable wretches they found 
within its walls. Unarmed and unprotected, the Indians 
prostrated themselves with their children before their mur- 
derers, protesting their innocence and their love to the Eng- 
lish, and in this posture they all received the hatchet. It is 
not possible to exculpate the magistrates of the town from the 
charge of criminal negligence, since it was in their power to 
have prevented this assassination, or to have arrested the 
perpetrators. Captain Robinson, with a company of high- 
landers, on their way from Pittsburg, being then at Lancas- 
ter, put himself in the way to receive the commands of the 
civil authority, which made no effort to use the force thus 
offered it.t A proclamation was issued by the governor, 
after the first outrage, expressing the strongest disapproba- 
tion of the action, and offering a reward for the discovery of 
the perpetrators, but without effect: after the second massacre, 
another proclamation was issued, but no discovery was made. 
Upon the news of these proceedings, the Moravian Indians 
were removed to the Province island, near the city. The 
insurgents threatening to march down, for the purpose of 
destroying them also, the assembly resolved to oppose force 
to force, and passed a vote of credit to cover any expense 
that might consequently be incurred. But the Indians, fright- 
ened at the fury of their enemies, petitioned the legislature 
to send them, a hundred and forty in number, with tlieir two 

* 14th December, f Votes. Min. oC Council. MSS, of James 

Pembertoii, 



406 UISTOUY OF I'ENNSYLVANIA. [1764 

ministers, to England. But this being impracticable, the 
governor furnished them an escort, to proceed through 
New Jersey and New York, to sir William Johnson, under 
whose protection they were desirous to place themselves, 
William Franklin, then governor of New Jersey, granted 
them a passport; but governor Golden of New York, by ad- 
vice of his council, refused to admit them within his province. 
The council of New York were offended by governor Penn 
sending so large a body of Indians into their colony without 
their consent ; and professed themselves more disposed to 
punish than to protect the Indians from the east side of the 
Susquehannah, whom they considered as their worst enemies, 
composed of the rogues, thieves, and runaways, from other 
Indian nations. They also condemned the policy which re- 
turned these men to strengthen their nation. The progress 
of the Indians being thus obstructed, general Gage, who had 
succeeded general Amherst in the chief command of the 
English forces in America, directed two companies of the 
royal Americans to re-escort them to Philadelphia, where they 
were secured in the barracks. Their return, however, reani- 
mated the ire of their enemies in Lancaster, who, assembling 
in large numbers, marched for the city.* The force of the 
insurgents was very considerable; since six companies of foot, 
one of artillery, and two troops of horse, were formed to op- 
pose them; and some thousands of the inhabitants, (including 
many Quakers!) who did not appear, were prepared to ren- 
der assistance, in case an attempt should be made upon the 
town. The barracks, also, where the Indians were lodged, 
under the protection of the regular troops, were fortified; se- 
veral works being thrown up about them, and eight pieces of 
cannon mounted. But the governor would not venture to 
command his forces to attack the insurgents, until he obtained 
indemnity for himself and them, by the extension to the pro- 
vince of the English riot act. The bill extending it was 
passed very hastily through the house. 



* January. f Heckewelder's Narr. Franklin's Life. Tenn. Gaz. 

1764, No. 1833. 



J7'64] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 407 

The insurgents, finding the ferries over the Schuylkill 
guarded, proceeded to Germantown ; where, learning the 
amount of the force raised to oppose them, they listened to 
the advice of some prudent persons who visited them, and to 
the remonstrances of the agents of the governor, and pro- 
mised to return peaceably to their habitations, leaving two 
only of their number to represent their views to the govern- 
ment. The alarm in the city was great. The governor fled 
to the house of Dr. Franklin for safety;* and nothing but 
the spirited measures of the inhabitants of the city, saved it 
from the fury of an exasperated armed multitude, who would 
not have hesitated to extend their vengeance from the Indians 
to their protectors.! 

These insurgents were not the ignorant and Vulgar of the 
border counties; persons more likely to yield to their pas- 
sions, than to respect the laws of their country and of hu- 
manity. They were of such consideration, that whilst the 
public voice and the press execrated the cruelty and illegality 
of their conduct, they forbore to name the guilty individuals. 
Nor did the latter remain silent and shrink from reproach, 
without an attempt at self-defence. 'J ney urged the repeated 
murders perpetrated by the Indians, their convictions of the 
unionof the neutral with the belligerent tribes; and, being pres- 
byterians, in their religious zeal, they found a justification for 
their slaughter of the Indians, in the command given to Joshua 
to destroy the heathen. This latter plea gave the Quakers, 
who were their most active opponents, an opportunity of ex- 
claiming against the uncharitableness of their creed, and their 
savage mode of maintaining it. 

Matthew Smith, and James Gibson, were the persons se- 
lected by the insurgents to lay their grievances before the 
governor and assembly. This they did by a memorial in 
behalf of themselves and the inhabitants of the counties of 
Lancaster, York,' Cumberland, Berks, and Northampton, com- 

• Franklin's Mem. 

t Heckewelder unhesitatingly charges the rioters with the design of sub- 
verting the government; but tlie opinion of a prejudiced judge must not 
be taken for fact. IIcckcAvelder's Narrative. 



408 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1764 

plaining that these counties were unequally represented in 
the assembly, sending collectivel}' ten members only, whilst 
the three counties of Piuladelphia, Chester, and Bucks, sent 
twenty-six: that a bill had passed the assembly, directing the 
trial of persons charged with the murder of an Indian in 
Lancaster county, to be had in some one of the latter coun- 
ties: that, whilst more than a thousand families, reduced to 
extreme distress, during the last and present war, by the at- 
tacks of skulking parties of Indians upon the frontiers, were 
destitute, and were suffered by the public to depend on pri- 
vate charity, a hundred and twenty of the perpetrators of the 
most horrid barbarities were supported by the province, and 
protected from the fury of the brave relatives of the murdered: 
that the cruelties of the Indians were extenuated, and efforts 
improperly made to excite commiseration for them, on the 
plea that they were not parties to the war; " But, in what 
nation," said the memorialists, " was it ever the custom that, 
when a neighbouring nation took up arms, not an individual 
of tiiat nation should be touched, but only the persons that 
offered hostilities? who ever proclaimed war with part of a 
nation, and not with the whole? Had these Indians disap- 
proved of the perfidy of their tribe, and been willing to cul- 
tivate and preserve friendship with us, why did they not give 
notice of the war before it happened, as it is known to be 
the result of long deliberation and preconcerted combination? 
why did they not leave their tribe immediately, and come 
amongst us, before there was cause to suspect them, or war 
was actually waged? No, they staid amongst them, were 
privy to their murders and ravages, until we had destroyed 
their provisions, and when they could no longer subsist at 
home, they came — not as deserters, but — as friends, to be main- 
tained through the winter, that they might scalp and butcher 
us in the spring." « 

The memorialists further remonstrated against the policy 
of suffering any Indians whatever to live within the inhabit- 
ed parts of the province, whilst it was engaged in an Indian 
war; experience having taught that they were all perfidious, 
and that their claim to freedom and independence enabled 



17643 HISTORY OF TENNSYLVANIA. 409 

them to act as spies, to entertain and give intelligence to our 
enemies, and to furnish them with provisions and warlike 
stores. To this fatal intercourse, between pretended friends 
and open enemies, they ascribed the greatest part of the ra- 
vages and murders that had been committed during the last 
and present wars. This grievance they prayed might be con- 
sidered and remedied. 

They remonstrated against the neglect, by the province, of 
the frontier inhabitants, who had been wounded in its defence, 
and required that they should be relieved at the public cost. 
They expostulated against the policy of the government, in 
refraining to grant rewards for Indian scalps, " which damped 
the spirits of many brave men, who were willing to venture 
their lives against the enemy;" and they proposed that pub- 
lic rewards might be granted for these trophies, adequate to 
the danger of procuring them. They lamented that numbers 
of their nearest and dearest relatives were retained in cap- 
tivity among the savage heathen, to be trained up in their 
ignorance and barbarity, or be cruelly tortured to death for 
attempting their escape: and they prayed that no trade might 
be permitted with the Indians until their prisoners were re- 
turned. 

They complained that the " Friendly Association," during 
the late war, and at several treaties held by the king's repre- 
sentatives, openly loaded the Indians with presents; and that Is- 
rael Pemberton, a leader of that association, in defiance of the 
government, not only abetted its Indian enemies, but kept 
up private intelligence with them, and publicly received from 
them a belt of wampum, as if he were the governor, or was 
authorized by the king to treat with his enemies; teaching 
the Indians to believe the inhabitants of the province to be a 
divided people; whence had arisen "many of the calamities 
under which they groaned." 

The declaration and memorial were printed, and copies 
distributed throughout the province These extenuated, if 
they did not justify, in the eyes of the partizans of the Pax- 
ton boys, their inhuman murders at Conestoga and Lancas- 
ter, and their traitorous expedition to Philadelphia. Their 
52 



410 HISTORT OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1764 

partizans were found chiefly among the presbyterians, now 
a numerous religious sect in the province; to whom, accord- 
ing to the belief of their opponents, the use of the sword in 
civil and religious warfare was not objectionable; and who 
believed it wiser to exterminate than to convert the heathen. 
They were totally opposed to the policy of the Quakers; who, 
confiding in the natural goodness of the unsophisticated tenants 
of the forests, would assign no cause for their hostility, other 
than the injuries they had received from the whites. Whilst, 
therefore, the one party was labouring to destroy by fire and 
sword a perfidious and ferocious enemy, the other was striving 
to conciliate an ofiended friend. That this conflicting policy 
encouraged the Indians, by inducing them to believe that the 
justice of their cause had friends amongst the aggressors, can- 
not be doubted; but there is every reason to infer, from the 
profound veneration the Indians entertained for the Quakers, 
and the attention they paid their messages, that had the 
Friends been permitted to follow out their plans of benevo- 
lence, the Indian war would never have existed, or would 
have been of short duration. 

The memorial of Gibson and Smith was sustained by an- 
other, having fifteen hundred signatures. But the county of 
Berks, by its grand jury, protested against it. The assembly 
sent both memorial and protest to a committee, which re- 
commended a conference with the insurgents, in order to 
convince them and the people that their complaints were un- 
founded. The house invited the governor to participate in 
this conference, but he declined the measure, as incompatible 
with the dignity, and subversive of the order, of the govern- 
ment. He recommended them to investigate the merits of 
the petitions, and should any bill grow out of the investiga- 
tion, he promised to give it due attention. The assembly 
took no further steps. The bill directing persons charged 
with murdering an Indian in Lancaster county, to be tried 
in Philadelphia, Bucks, or Chester, became a law, but no con- 
viction for that offence was ever had, the number and power 
of the guilty protecting them from punishment. 



1765] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 411 

During the preceding year, the legislature encouraged the 
printing of another edition of the laws — subscribing for two 
hundred copies. In the present year, their labours were dis- 
tinguished by an attempt to limit the continuance of actions 
in the courts of law; and a bill for this purpose was sent to 
the governor, who refused his concurrence, alleging that 
every court of record has power to make rules, which have 
the force of laws on the suitors and gentlemen of the bar in 
such courts, to bring to a speedy termination all causes de- 
pending therein; and if any evils had arisen from the too 
long continuance of actions in the courts of the province, he 
deemed it safer to leave them to be remedied by the courts, 
than to compel the parties to try at a fixed time. 

A spirit for public improvement was at this time very 
prevalent, displaying itself in the erection of a light-house, 
churches, and other public buildings. The ordinary sources 
of public and private donation were inadequate to accom- 
plish all that was desired, and recourse was had to lotteries, 
which were granted with great liberality, and were fre- 
quently conducted with little care. Experience has taught 
us that public morals at least are not improved by this mode 
of raising money. In one year (1765) lotteries were granted 
to aid the following churches; the episcopalian churches at 
York, Reading, Carlisle, St. Peter's and St. Paul's at Phila- 
delphia, St. Paul's at Chester, St. John's in the township of 
Concord, Chester, St. Martin's at Marcus Hook; the Lu- 
theran church and a presbyterian meeting-house in Lancaster 
county; beside these, there was one for a light-house at Cape 
Henlopen, and one for a bridge over the Skippack creek. 
The interests of commerce were promoted by the purchase 
of the lower half of Reedy isJand, at the head of the Dela- 
ware bay, and the erection of piers for the convenience and 
security of vessels delayed from putting to sea by adverse 
v^inds. 

In despite of the 'demand for labour, which had every 
where prevailed, and which had been increased by the re- 
sort of the people to domestic manufactures, the poor-sys- 
tem, so fruitful in creating the pauperism it was designed 



412 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1765 

to remedy, became very opppressive. The poor-rates of 
the city alone now exceeded four thousand pounds per an- 
num. Impatient of this expenditure, the legislature, on the 
address of the grand jury, authorized the erection of an alms- 
house and house of employment, by a corporation which they 
created, consisting of the city, the districts of the Northern 
Liberties, and Southwark, and the townships of the Northern 
Liberties, Moyamensing, and Passyunk. At the opening of 
the alms-house, in October, 1767, there were admitted two 
hundred and eighty-four persons, and the number was in Ja- 
nuary following, three hundred and sixty eight. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Arrival of John Penn«««'He convenes the assembly«"«Mea- 
sures proposed against the Indians«"«Disputes between the 
governor and assembly on the tax bill* •••The assembly pro- 
pose to petition for a royal government- •••Submit the pro- 
position to their constituents*"«Adopt petitions to the king 
for a change of government- •••Opposition to this measure 
in the province by the presbyterians^^-^ Supported by the 
Quakers- •••Assembly determine to send an additional agent 
to Great Britain. 

John Penn, esq.* succeeded Mr. Hamilton as lieutenant- 
governor of Pennsylvania, in November, 1763. He convened 

• On his arrival he received the congratulations of the mayor and com- 
monahy, the rectors, ministers, church wardens, and vestrymen of the 
united congregations of Christ church and St. Peter's, the missionaries of 
the church of England, the vice' provost, aT\d professors of the college, 
the managers and trustees of the Pennsylvania hospital, the corpora- 
tion for the relief of the poor and distressed presbyterian ministers, the 
baptist church, the directors of the library company, the merchants 
and traders of Philadelphia, the ministers and elders of the presbyterian 
churches, of the monthly meeting of friends of Philadelphia, of the imion 
library company of Philadelphia; and, subsequently, of the assembly at 
their meeting. It appears to have been an established custom for every 
association having a political or public character, to pay this compliment to 
every governor on his accession, as the phrase was. Mr. Penn arrived at 
Philadelphia on the thirtieth of October, 1763, on Sunday. This day is 
distinguished by a severe shock of an earthquake, accompanied with a loud 
roaring noise, which greatly alarmed the inhabitants of the city and vicini- 
ty. Most of the religious congregations were assembled at the time, and 
much confusion, though but httle injury, happened from their efforts to 
escape from the buildings, which they feared would fall upon them. The 
sky was clear, and wind moderate, at south-west. MSS. by James Pem- 
berton. 



414 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1764 

the assembly soon after his arrival, to obtain their aid 
in the extensive measures resolved upon for the reduction 
of the Indians, General Gage had determined to attack 
them on two sides, and to force them from tho frontiers 
by carrying the war into the heart of their own country. 
One corps was destined, under colonel Bradstreet, to act 
against the Wiandots, Ottawas, Chippewas, and other nations, 
living upon or near the lakes; whilst another, under the com- 
mand of colonel Bouquet, should attack the DeIawares,Shaw- 
anese, Mingoes, Mohiccans, and other nations between the 
Ohio and the lakes. These corps were to act in concert, and 
as that of colonel Bradstreet would be first ready, he was 
directed to proceed to Detroit, Micliilimackinack, and other 
places, and on his return to encamp and remain at Sandusky, 
to awe from that position the numerous tribes of western In- 
dians, and prevent them from rendering aid to those on the 
Ohio, whilst colonel Bouquet should attack the latter in the 
midst of their settlements. 

Part of the forty-second and sixtieth regiments were allot- 
ted to colonel Bouquet, to be joined with two hundred friend- 
ly Indians, and troops from Virginia and Pennsylvania. The 
Indians never came, and Virginia could spare but few men, 
having already organized seven bundled for the defence of 
her own frontier. The cjuota of Pennsylvania was one thou- 
sand. 

The assembly, with great alacrity, resolved to raise this 
force; and to maintain it they voted fifty thousand pounds. 
Desirous to avoid the delay consequent upon a dispute with the 
governor on their supply bill, they did not propose that the bills 
to be issued under the act, should be a legal tender in payment 
of the proprietary rents. But this forbearance was in vain, for 
a new difficulty was raised by the governor. By the agree- 
ment of the provincial agents in 1757 with the proprietaries, 
before the privy council, the proprietaries' located uncul- 
tivated lands were not to be assessed higher than the 
lowest rate of assessment at which any located unculti- 
vated lands belonging to the inhabitants should be assessed. 
The governor now insisted that the proprietary lands, 



1764] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 415 

of whatever quality, should be rated at the lowest valuation 
of the worst lands of the tenants, and that a provision to that 
effect should be inserted in the supply bill. The assembly, 
with more reason, construed this agreement to mean, that the 
lands of the proprietaries should not be rated liigher than the 
lowest rate of the lands of the inhabitants, due regard being 
had to quality; and they proposed that the lands of the pro- 
prietary, as those of the inhabitants, should be divided into 
two qualities, and be assessed accordingly. The demand of 
the proprietaries was selfish and unjust, and recalled to the 
minds of the people the narrow and sordid spirit which had 
long distinguished them. The house, in their resistance to 
this exaction, did not measure their terms, nor hesitate to 
advert to the deep interest the governor held in the preten- 
sions of his father and uncle. But the assembly could not 
persevere. The savage and relentless foe harassed the fron- 
tier; the people prayed for protection, which could not be 
rendered without money, and the house was compelled not 
only to admit this very objectionable feature into the bill, but 
to strike from it, a clause recognising the provisions of the act 
of supply passed in the year one thousand seven hundred and 
sixty. 

In the bill now passed the various kinds of property sub- 
jected to taxation were classed and arranged upon principles 
which have served as the basis for subsequent assessments for 
county and other taxes. We therefore give them somewhat 
at large. Improved marsh meadow, in the county of Philadel- 
phia, was rated, the best, situation considered, at ninety 
pounds the hundred acres, the worst, at thirty pounds; in the 
counties of Bucks and Chester, the best at sixty, and the worst 
at thirty pounds the hundred acres; and meadows of inter- 
mediate value at a comparative proportion; the marsh mea- 
dows not cleared, but embanked, the best at twenty, and the 
worst at ten pounds the hundred acres in all the counties. 
Cultivated lands and plantations, with buildings and improve- 
ments thereon, were rated at three-fifths of such yearly value 
as the assessors should judge they would rent for, allowing 
suflicient timber land for repairs and fuel; and cultivated 



416 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1764 

lands, actually rented, at three-fifths of the rent reserved; 
the unimproved parts of such plarrtations to be rated as 
located unimproved lands; and the latter at fifteen pounds 
for the bept, and five pounds for the worst, the hundred 
acres, regard being had to their situation; and lands of 
intermediate value at comparative proportions; houses and 
lots, in cities, boroughs, and towns, at three-fifths of their 
yearly rent, and grass lots in, or near them, at a like rate, 
and unimproved lots in and near them at the sums they did^ 
or might rent for; ground rents and quit-rents at their full 
value; lands appertaining to furnaces and forges, as other 
lands; and if the rents of the furnaces and forges did not ex- 
ceed such valuation, that was to be the rate of assessment ; 
but if the rent exceeded such valuation, half the difference 
was to be added to the estimate. Mills were to be valued at 
three-fifths of their annual rent, and the appurtenant lands as 
uncultivated. Trades, professions, and occupations, to be 
rated at the discretion of the assessors, upon an estimate of 
their annual profits; annual salaries, and lucrative posts, at 
four-fifths of their annual produce; ferries, at three-fifihs of 
their product, and their appurtenant lands as uncultivated; 
horses were to be valued at thirteen and four pence per head; 
horned cattle, above three years old, at six shillings and eight 
pence, and sheep at one shilling per head; bought white ser- 
vants, from fifteen to fifty years of age, were taxed at thirty 
shillings; negroes and mulatto slaves, from twelve to fifty years 
of age, at four pounds per head; single men, resident in the pro- 
vince, at fifteen shillings per head. The assessors were invested 
with discretionary power to exempt from taxation, in part or 
in whole, for the space of two years, the inhabitants on the 
frontiers, who had sustained losses by Indian ravages. 

The victory of the proprietaries over the people on the 
supply bill, produced sentiments so hostile to their govern- 
ment, that an earnest disposition was evinced to throw off 
their dominion. The assembly appointed Messrs. Galloway, 
Franklin, Rodman, Pearson, Douglass, Montgomery, and 
Tool, a committee to consider and report upon the present 
circumstances of the province, and the grievances of its 



1764] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 417 

inhabitants. They reported twenty-six resolutions, which were 
approved by the house, and form a manifest of their reasons 
for seeking the immediate protection and government of the 
crown. They asserted, that the proprietaries, having delegated 
their powers, were legally to be considered in no other light 
than as private owners of property, without any share in the 
power of legislation: That the obstruction and delays so fre- 
quent to the measures of the crown during the late war were 
owing entirely to the proprietary instructions, relative to their 
private interests : That all the mischiefs to the province, attri- 
buted by the governor to the assembly, were occasioned by 
such obstructions, and chargeable wholly to the proprietaries: 
That it was high presumption in any subject to interfere be- 
tween the crown and the people, and by private instructions 
to a deputy-governor, enforced by penal bonds, to prevent 
the people from granting, and the crown from receiving the 
supplies necessary for his majesty's province. They declared 
that no injustice had been done to the proprietaries in the 
taxation of their estates, and that no cause had been given 
them to apprehend such injustice : That the assemblies 
had, for a long course of years, shown their regard for 
the proprietary family, having bestowed upon it and its 
deputies within the last forty years, near fourscore thousand 
pounds; in return for which the present proprietors had, 
ever since their accession, endeavoured to annihilate the pri- 
vileges granted by their father to encourage the settlement of 
the province: That from attachment to their interest, and to 
increase the revenues of their deputies, arising from licenses, 
the proprietaries had grossly abused the benevolence of the 
people which granted them, and public houses and dram 
shops had been increased to an enormous degree, to tlie great 
corruption of morals in the populace, and scandal of the go- 
vernment; and from the same causes reasonable bills for pre- 
venting this evil had been frequently refused by the proprie- 
tary governors: That the policy of the proprietaries in locating 
and surveying for themselves and their dependants, large 
tracts of land, immediately after their purchases from the In- 
dians, and reserving them for a future market, was the cause 
53 



418 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1764 

that the frontiers were sparsely settled; and the inhabitants, 
thereby less able to defend themselves, had become a more 
easy prey to small skulking parties of the enemy ; that, hold- 
ing a monopoly of the lands of the province, the proprietaries 
were enabled to keep up those that were vacant and unlocat- 
ed, at exorbitant prices, paying no quit-rents nor taxes, and 
being under no obligation to settle them within any limited 
time; that from this cause many thousand families had been 
driven from the province to Maryland, Virginia, North and 
South Carolina, carrying with them much wealth, doubly 
weakening the colony by the loss of its defenders and its 
treasure: That whilst the avarice of the proprietaries thus en- 
feebled the state, it was the more unreasonable to oppose the 
taxation of their estates, and to put the province to great ex- 
pense in obtaining a judgment against them at home: That 
their present demand to have the best and the most valuable 
of their located uncultivated lands, rated and assessed at no 
higher rate than the worst and least valuable of the located 
uncultivated lands belonging to the inhabitants, was equally 
unreasonable and unjust, with any of their former claims; 
and that the advantage which they took of the public calami- 
ties, and the enforcement of their claims, with the knives of 
the savages at the throats of the people, was unjust, tyranni- 
cal, and inhuman: That the appointment of judges during the 
pleasure of the proprietors, rendered the property and liberty 
of the subject precarious, and dependent on their will: Tliat 
the unfavourable light in which the province was at present 
viewed by the king and his ministers, was the effect of pro- 
prietary calumny and misrepresentation: That the militia law 
proposed by the governor was inadmissible, because the 
fines for military offences were enormous, and calculated to 
enslave the people; and the power to appoint the officers, and 
to march the militia to any part of the province, and keep 
them in service for an unlimited time, was such as could not be 
safely trusted in the hands of a proprietary governor; and that 
courts martial, proposed by the governor, composed of officers 
of his own appointment, having power of life and death, 
were dangerous, and might be used as a destructive engine of 



1764] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 419 

proprietary power: That the sole executive powers of govern- 
ment being in the hands of the proprietaries, together with 
the extensive and growing influence arising from their vast 
and daily increasing estate, must, in future times, accord- 
ing to the natural course of human affairs, render them ab- 
solute, and become as dangerous to the prerogatives of the 
crown as to the liberties of the people: That for these reasons 
it was the opinion of the house, that the powers of govern- 
ment ought, in all good policy, to be separated from the 
power attending that immense property, and lodged where 
only they could be properly and safely lodged, in the hands of 
the king. 

Having unanimously adopted these resoIulio«s, the assem- 
bly resolved to consult their constituents before they pro- 
ceeded further towards their contemplated change of govern- 
ment. For this purpose, they declared, that " as all hope of 
happiness under the proprietary government was at an end, 
they would adjourn, in order to consult the people, whether 
an humble address should be drawn up, and transmitted to 
his majesty, praying that he would be graciously pleased to 
take the people of this province under his immediate protec- 
tion and government, by completing the agreement heretofore 
made with the first proprietor, for the sale of the government 
to the crown, or otherwise, as to his goodness and wisdom 
should seem meet.'' 

After an adjournment of fifty days, the house re-assembled 
on the fourteenth of May, encouraged to proceed in their 
measures to effect a change of the government. Petitions 
to the king for that purpose were presented, signed by 
three thousand five hundred of their constituents. The in- 
habitants who disapproved of the measure, seemed to have 
viewed the exertions of the members of the assembly with 
extraordinary apathy; for though, during the recess, meetings 
were held among the people for signing and circulating the 
petitions, no efforts were made against them, except in an 
obscure township in J^ancaster county, whence a memorial 
with forty names, evidently signed by three hands only, was 



430 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1764 

sent, opposing the change. The Quakers too, as a society, 
were active in supporting it. They also presented a petition 
to the assembly, addressed to the king, expressing their sor- 
row for " the continual disagreements and contests which for 
many years had subsisted between the proprietaries and as- 
semblies, to the great interruption of the peace and welfare 
of the province;" and their earnest request, that he '< would 
be graciously pleased to take the government of the province 
under his immediate care and direction; confiding in his royal 
clemency and favour for the continuance and confirmation to 
them and their posterity of those inestimable religious and 
civil liberties, which encouraged their forefathers, at their 
own expense, to settle and improve the colony." 

The assembly resolved to transmit this petition to the king, 
accompanied by one from themselves. The latter, drawn by 
Dr. Franklin, was signed by him as speaker; but was not en- 
tered upon the minutes, nor published in the province; a 
copy of it was preserved among the doctor's papers. It 
stated, " that the government of the province hy proprieta- 
ries had, by long experience, been found inconvenient, at- 
tended with many difficulties and obstructions to his majesty's 
service, arising from the intervention of proprietary private 
interest in public affairs, and disputes concerning those inte- 
rests. 

"That the government was weak, unable to support its 
own authority, and maintain the common internal peace of 
the province — great riots having lately arisen therein, armed 
mobs marching from place to place, and committing violent 
outrages and insults on the government with impunity, to the 
great terror of his majesty's subjects; that these evils were 
not likely to receive any remedy here, the continual disputes 
between the proprietaries and people, and their mutual jea- 
lousies and dislikes, preventing. They therefore prayed that 
his majesty would be graciously pleased to resume the go- 
vernment of the province, making slich compensation to the 
proprietaries as should be just and equitable, and permitting 
his dutiful subjects to enjoy, under bis majesty's more imme- 



1764] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 421 

diate care and protection, privileges that have been granted to 
them by and under your royal predecessors," 

On the consideration of this petition, the first serious op- 
position to the designs of the assembly displayed itself. The 
venerable Isaac Norris disapproved of it; and aware that, as 
speaker of the house, it would be his duty to sign it, obtained 
permission to enter his reasons for dissent upon the minutes: 
but, unwilling openly to array himself against his friends, 
and worn down by age, he preferred to retire for the present 
from the assembly, and the next day sent them his resignation 
as speaker. He was succeeded by Dr. Franklin. 

John Dickenson, already distinguished for his learning, ta- 
lents, and success at the bar, was a member of the assembly, 
and hitherto had voted and acted with the majorit)'; on this 
occasion, however, he eloquently and ably opposed them. 
But his speech, richly fraught with political wisdom, was 
powerless in the house. On the question for transcribing 
the address for a third reading, Messrs. Dickenson, Saunders, 
Montgomery, and Richardson, were the only persons who 
voted in the negative. The three first oflfered a protest, which 
was refused a place on the minutes, on the ground that such 
a course was out of order, and would form a mischievous pre- 
cedent. 

Mr. Galloway replied to Mr. Dickenson in a short speech, 
afterwards amplified for the press. The address of Mr. Dick- 
enson having been published with a preface by Dr. Smith, 
Mr. Galloway's was also published, with a preface by Dr. 
Franklin. The latter also wrote and published a pamphlet 
on this subject, entitled " Cool thoughts on the present situa- 
tion of public afiairs." 

The publication of these, and other pamphlets, more re- 
markable for intemperance and scurrility, than for argument 
or wit, awakened the people to an earnest consideration 
of the proposed change of government. The presbyte- 
rians took up the subject with their customary zeal. Upon 
the last adjornment of the assembly, a circular letter had been 
written by Gilbert Tenant, Francis Allison, and John Ewing, 



422 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l764 

presbyterian clergymen of Philadelphia, by order of the synod, 
to their church connexions in the province, against the peti- 
tion; and, as the riots of which the house complained, were 
alleged to have been promoted and defended by that people, 
they had a deep interest, independent of their political objec- 
tions, in opposing the prayer of the petition. These divines 
exerted themselves to render the Quakers unpopular in the 
province and in England, by charging them with having 
secretly supported the Indians, by holding treaties and cor- 
respondence with them during the war, and of having bestow- 
ed on them arms, and ammunition, and tomahawks, even 
when they were murdering the frontier inhabitants; with 
having neglected to redeem the captives taken by the In- 
dians; with having refused to contribute to the relief of the 
distressed frontier inhabitants, though during the late war 
they had expended five thousand pounds in presents to the 
Indians." And to remove the odium which had attached to 
their sect, by the Lancaster massacres, and the tumultuous 
march of the Paxton zealots against the Indians at Phila- 
delphia, they gave a perverted account of these transactions, 
which they published, together with their accusations, in the 
newspapers of London.* 

The elections for members of assembly, in 1764, turned 
upon the question of changing the government; and, such 
were the exertions of the friends of the proprietaries, and 
the hostility to change, in the city and county of Philadel- 
phia, that their active opponents were not re-elected. Tho- 
mas Willing and George Bryan were returned from the city, 
in the places of Dr. Franklin and Samuel Rhoads; and 
Galloway, Evans, and Fleeson, were rejected in the county 
of Philadelphia; in Cumberland county, Mr. John Montgo- 
mery was unanimously elected, because of his opposition to 
the proposed alteration; but in the other counties, no change 
was made inimical to the views of the preceding house. The 
majority, therefore, was great in favour of prosecuting the 

* Votes. Pamphlets. A caricature published at this time represents 
Mr. Temberton in the act of distributing tomahawks from a cask to the 
Indians. 



1764J HISTOnV OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



423 



application to the crown, notwithstanding petitions with fif- 
teen thousand signatures had been procured against it. 

An attempt was made in the house to recall the petitions 
which, though sent to the agent, had not been presented to the 
crown, but this was overruled by a vote of twenty-two to ten. 
It was then proposed to instruct the agent not to present them 
until he should receive further orders from the house ; this 
was negatived also by a large majority ; and the only con- 
cession the house would consent to make to the fears and argu- 
mentsofthe minority, was the adoptionof a resolution, instruct- 
ing their agent to proceed in the matter with the utmost caution, 
for securing to the inhabitants, under a royal government, 
all those privileges, civil and religious, which by their char- 
ters and laws they had a right to enjoy under the present 
constitution ; and if, upon the most careful inquiry, and ma- 
ture deliberation and advice, he should apprehend that in the 
proposed change there was danger to those privileges, he 
should withhold the petitions in his hands. 

The resolution of the assembly was strengthened by the 
report of their agent, made in May, 1766, authenticating the 
confirmation by the crown of the la^'s passed in 1705, con- 
taining the principal provisions of the proprietary charter. 
In October, 1766, the committee of correspondence, on the 
part of the assembly, instructed their agents, that the house 
concurred in opinion with the three last preceding assemblies 
on the necessity of changing the present government from 
proprietary to royal, and that therefore they should prosecute 
the petitions to an issue before his majesty in council; but 
that they should observe the instructions formerly given, re- 
lative to the preservation of their rights, and, in case their 
petitions should be finally rejected by the crown, that they 
should not petition parliament without the previous approba- 
tion of the assembly. 

The house was unwilling to entrust a subject of such great 
magnitude to the care of an individual, and therefore resolved 
to appoint another agent to assist him. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Cupidity of the British government excited by American 
prosperity- •••Mr. Grenville's proposition for taxation*"* 
Considerations thereon* •••Convention of colonial agents*"- 
Reception of the proposition in Pennsylvania, &c. — Vexa- 
tious character of the proposed duties- •••Unpopular means 
of enforcing payment* ***Resolutions and proceedings of the 
Massachusetts colony* •••Of Pennsylvania-^'-Resolution of 
Pennsylvania to send an agent to England**** Appointment 
of Dr. Franklin*** •Opposition to his appointment*^ ••Stamp 
act passed^-^ 'Reception in America****Congress of repre- 
sentatives from the colonies proposed* ***Resolutions of the 
assembly of Pennsylvania on the stamp act****Western ex- 
pedition under colonel Bonquet****Submission of the Indians 
*** -Treatment and restoration of prisoners by the Indians 

• *• •Disposition of the army****Rewards to colonel Bouquet 

• •••Treaty with the Indians****Rewards offered by the go- 
vernor of Pennsylvania for Indian scalpS'***Stamp officers 
appointed*** "Mr. Hughes compelled to decline executing 
the office* •••Reception of tlie stamps-^^^Suspension of news- 
papers and law business- •••Resolution of the inhabitants to 
manufacture •***Congress at New York**-*Efforts against 
the stamp act in Europe — Change of ministry — Repeal of 
the stamp act — Moderation of the colonists on the repeal 
****Rcjoicings in Pennsylvania — Remonstrance against the 
act of parliament, concerning paper currency — Obituary 
notice of Isaac Norris-*- -Issue of notes by association of 
merchants — Theatre, remonstrance against it* ---Injuries 
to the Indians — Apprehension of Indian hostility****Mea- 
surcs to avert it----Indian trade. ■ 

The power and wealth displayed by tl»e colonies during 
the late war surprised the British ministry, and awakened in 



1764") HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 425 

the mind of Mr. Grenville, first commissioner of the treasury, 
an ardent hope of creating for himself a character for finan- 
cial skill, and of relieving the parent state from a portion of 
her burdens, by the taxation of the provinces. Parliament 
had frequently imposed duties on the colonial trade, which 
were patiently borne, as a part of the general system for re- 
gulating the commerce of the empire; but no attempt had 
hitherto been made avowedly to raise a revenue from the 
colonies for the use of the British treasury.* 

The right of parliament to legislate generally for the colo- 
nies, had not been questioned since the year 1692, v/hen 
Massachusetts and New York denied it by acts of their legis- 
latures. These laws were annulled in England ; and in 1696 
parliament declared that "all laws, by-laws, usages and cus- 
toms, which shall be in practice in any of the plantations re- 
pugnant to any law made, or to be made, in this kingdom, 
relative to the said plantations, shall be void and of none 
effect." By the charter of Charles II. to Penn, the right of 
parliament to lay duties on imports and exports, and to im- 
pose taxes or customs on the inhabitants of Pennsylvania, 
their lands, goods, and chattels, was clearly reserved. And 
in 1739 sir William Keith, in conjunction with some Ameri- 
can merchants, proposed to raise troops for the western fron- 
tiers, to be supported by a duty laid by parliament on stamped 
paper and parchment, in all the colonies. But the subject 
was at that time too inconsiderable to claim the attention of 
the government. When efforts were made to unite the colo- 
nies in 1754, a plan for colonial taxation was suggested, but 
the ministry finding the colonies averse to their views, did 
not venture to press it on the eve of a war, in which the cor- 
dial and undivided exertions of the whole nation were re- 
quired. t 

A more favourable occasion seemed now to present itself. 
The war which had grown out of American interests had 
been honourably terminated, and the colonies were protected 
for ever against French aggression. Gratitude, it was suppos- 

• Burke's speecli, 19tli April, 1774. t MarslwH- 

54 



426 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [lT64 

ed, would still the murmurs which avarice might be disposed 
to utter, and the provinces would cheerfully repay the care 
of a fostering mother. Nor would these anticipations have 
proven erroneous had the designs of the ministry threatened 
no other consequence than a single pecuniary burden on the 
people. 

Towardsthe end of the year 1763, Mr. Grenville convened 
the colonial agents then in London, and communicated his 
purpose of drawing a revenue from America, by means of a 
stamp duty to be levied by act of parliament. He directed 
them to communicate tliis intelligence to their respective as- 
semblies, in order that if any other duty, equally productive, 
would be more agreeable, he might be informed of it by their 
answers. The view which was taken of this subject in Penn- 
sylvania was that taken by all the provinces. 

The colonies were considered as integral governments, of 
which the crown was the head; having exclusive political 
power within their respective territories, except in cases in- 
volving the general interests of the empire, in which, from 
principles of convenience and necessity, they admitted the 
supremacy of the British parliament. On these principles 
they had submitted to the general regulations of commerce, 
however restrictive of their exertions at home and abroad; 
and even where the letter of the law weighed heavily on their 
natural rights, murmurs were seldom heard, as such acts were 
not rigidly enforced. The mode of drawing aids from the 
colonists accorded with the principles of their governments. 
The sovereign having well considered the occasion in his 
privy council, directed his secretary of state to apply to each 
colony through its governor, to grant him such sums as should 
be suitable to its ability. And as the colonies had always 
made liberal grants on such requisitions, the proposition to 
tax them in parliament, was cruel and unjust. By the con- 
stitution, therefore, their business in matters of aid was with 
the king alone; the}' had no connexion with any financier, 
nor were the provincial agents the proper persons through 
whom requisitions should be made. For these reasons, it was 
improper for the province to make propositions to Mr. Gren- 



1764] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 427 

ville in relation to taxes, especially as the notice he had sent 
did not appear to have been by the king's order, " and was 
perhaps without his kno\^^edge.*" 

These reflections certainly did not proceed from a desire to 
avoid contribution in relief of the public wants. The assem- 
bly of Pennsylvania declared, " that as they always had, so 
they always should, think it their duty to grant aid to the 
crown, according to their abilities, when required in the usual 
constitutional manner." Like votes were passed by other 
colonies, copies of which were presented to Mr. Grenville, 
and an opportunity was thus offered him to raise, by consti- 
tutional means, more than a compulsory tax would produce. 
But the minister had resolved on measures which should 
leave no doubt of the absolute supremacy of parliament over 
her provinces, and which would open the way for its unre- 
strained exercise. 

When forming his plan of American taxation, Mr. Gren- 
ville certainly did not apprehend all its consequences. But, 
aware that it Vv'ouid be opposed, he was desirous to try an old 
measure under a new aspect, and proposed in distinct terms, 
to raise a revenue by taxes on colonial imports. But this 
measure, sufficiently obnoxious in itself, was accompanied by 
a resolve of parliament, that " it may be proper to charge 
certain stamp duties in the colonies." The act of parliament 
based on the first proposition was extremely onerous to the 
American trade, the duties thereby imposed amounting almost 
to a prohibition of commercial intercourse with the French 
and Spanish colonies. It is true, this trade, previous to the 
passage of the act of which we now speak, was unlawful, but 
it was connived at, and was highly profitable, furnishing to 
the provinces gold and silver for their remittances to Eng- 
land. But Mr, Grenville, in his care to prevent smuggling, 
would not stay to consider the difference between an advan- 
tageous trade in the western hemisphere, and the illicit com- 
merce on the British coast. Converting naval officers into 
officers of the customs, he nearly destroyed the whole colo- 

• \otes. Franklin's lett. March 8, 1770. 



428 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1764 

nial trade with the Spanish and French islands. The pream- 
ble to the new impost law, declaring it to be just and neces- 
sary that a revenue should be raiSed in America, and the 
resolution to follow it up with a stamp act, gave an unequivo- 
cal and odious character to that law, and sent it forth to the 
colonies as a pioneer of a system of boundless oppression, 
which the provincialists were not less slow to discover, by 
reason of their commercial difficulties growing out of the 
treasury restrictions. 

The revenue act became still more unpopular by the means 
used to enforce it. The penalties for breach of its provi- 
sions were made recoverable in the courts of admiralty, 
without the intervention of a jury, before judges dependent 
on the crown, and drawing their salaries from forfeitures ad- 
judged by tliemselves. The duties were required to be paid 
in gold and silver, now scarce attainable, and consequently 
the paper currency, more than ever necessary, was rejected 
and depreciated. 

The impression made by these measures en the public 
mind was uniform throughout America. The legislature of 
Massachusetts, whose population, essentially commercial, felt 
most severely the late restrictions, was the first to notice 
them. That body resolved, "that the act of parliament re- 
lating to the sugar trade with foreign colonies, and the reso- 
lutions of the house of commons in regard to stamp duties, 
and other taxes proposed to be laid on the British colonies, 
had a tendency to deprive the colonists of some of their most 
essential rights as British subjects and as men — particularly 
the right of assessing their own taxes, and of being free from 
any impositions but such as they consented to, by themselves 
or representatives." They directed Mr. Mauduit, their agent 
in London, to remonstrate against the ministerial measures, 
to solicit a repeal of the sugar act, and to deprecate the im- 
position of further duties and taxes on the colonies: they 
addressed the assemblies of the other provinces, requesting 
them to unite in a petition against the designs of the minis- 
try, and to instruct their agents to remonstrate, against at- 



1764J HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 429 

tempts so destructive to the liberty, the commerce, and 
property of the colonies. 

The assembly of Pennsylvania referred the circular from 
Massachusetts to a committee,* with directions to prepare 
instructions to their agents. In the report of this committee, 
adopted by the house, they contended, that, by the charter of 
Charles II,, the right of assessing their own taxes, and free- 
dom from impositions not imposed by the representatives of 
the people, were fully granted: that, independently of the 
charter, these were the indubitable rights of all the colonists as 
Englishmen: that they had paid a valuable consideration to 
the crown for their charter and laws, by planting and im- 
proving a wilderness, far distant from the mother country, 
at a vast expense and risk of lives, greatly increasing the 
commerce of the nation, and adding a large tract of country 
to the crown: they admitted, that, in seasons of danger, 
there was a necessity for some plan to oblige the colonies to 
grant the necessary aids, and to contribute to the general de- 
fence, and that the colonies might be expected to propose 
some mode adequate to these ends. Such a plan, they said, 
was then under their consideration, which would preserve 
the rights of the crown and the liberties of the colonists. 
This plan they proposed to transmit to him immediately, 
that, if approved, it might be established by a temporary act 
of parliament. 

But this design of framing a system for taxing the colonies, 
was abandoned, in consequence of the proposition from 
Rhode Island, made to a succeeding assembly,! to collect the 
sense of all the colonies, and to unite in a common petition 
to the king and parliament. The Pennsylvania ogent was 
advised of the change, wliich was attributed to the disjointed 
state and separate interests of the several colonies. He was 
further instructed to declare, that the province laboured under 
an immense load of debt, produced by her grants to the 
crown, during the late war, besides a half million sterling, 

* Committee; — Messrs. Fox, Rhoads, Rodman, Pearson, Carpenter, 
M'Connaughey, Allen, Ross, and Tool, 
f October. 



430 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1764 

now due from her merchants to the mother country : that the 
late act of parliament relating to foreign sugar, coffee, and mo- 
lasses, deprived them of a market for their surplus produce, 
now too great for the consumption of the English islands alone, 
and was rendered more grievous by giving no drawback of 
duty in case of exportation of West India commodities to 
Europe: that tb.e value of British manufactures annually im- 
ported by Pennsylvania amounted to seven hundred thousand 
pounds sterling, whilst the return exports did not exceed three 
hundred thousand pounds: that, if debarred access to the 
European markets with their lumber and iron, and denied 
the benefit of drawback on West India produce, they would 
be unable to make their payments to the British merchants 
and manufacturers: that, since the Indian war, their fur-trade 
was destroyed: that the province was drained of specie, and 
their paper, the great circulating medium, was sinking in 
value, threatening them with the deprivation of a proper me- 
dium for trade: that the province was totally unable to pay 
heavy taxes, the late appearances of wealth and prosperity 
having flowed from temporary causes: that a late act, re- 
quiring all wines of European growth to be landed in Eng- 
land, and pay a duty there before re-shipment, was a vexa- 
tious, troublesome, and expensive burden. The agent was 
further instructed, iron having become a staple commodity 
of Pennsylvania, to obtain permission to export it to any 
port in Europe, since vessels directly for England were not 
to be procured to transport half the iron made in the colonies; 
and he was directed to remonstrate against the prohibition 
to export lumber to Elurope and to the foreign West Indies, as 
deeply injurious to the colonists, cutting off entirely this ar- 
ticle of export, it being too bulky to bear a double freight. 
Copies of these instructions were sent to the legislatures of 
Massachusetts and Rhode Island. 

But the assembly of Pennsylvania were not content with 
these exertions. They resolved to send Dr. Franklin to Eng- 
land as their agent; one qualified by his information and ta- 
lents to promote their views relative to the change of the 
proprietary government, and to instruct the ministry in the 



1764] HISTORY OV PENNSYLVANIA. 431 

true interests of the empire. The choice of the house alarmed 
the proprietary party, who earnestly remonstrated against it. 
They denied the right of the assembly to change the form 
of government; and, though such right were admitted, they 
declared it inexpedient to exercise it whilst measures were 
pending in England which might prove fatal to all the colo- 
nies. They urged also, that the change of government could 
no longer be deemed necessary, since the proprietaries had 
consented to comply with the wishes of the people in rela- 
tion to the taxation of their estates. But if an additional 
agent were necessary, they represented Mr. Franklin as dis- 
qualified for the station by his party engagements and preju- 
dices, having proposed and ardently supported the change of 
government, which he might still endeavour to effect, though 
now reprobated by more than three-fourths of the inhabitants 
of the province: that his enmity against the proprietaries 
would prevent a cordial co-operation with them against the 
designs of the ministry, whom it was not to be presumed he 
would venture to offend, himself and son holding lucrative 
ojflices under the crown: and that a man of his moderate for- 
tune could not be expected to sacrifice his interests to the " 
public weal. For these reasons, the remonstrants recom- 
mended the selection of some gentleman in England of inde- 
pendent fortune, who had influence with the ministry and the 
house of commons, and with whom the proprietaries and the 
agents from the other colonies might co-operate. They urged 
the house to delay their final vote upon the appointment until 
the sense of the people could be taken, when, they asserted, 
three-fourths of the province would petition, not only against 
a change of government, but against the employment of Mr. 
Franklin, particularly, as an agent in provincial affairs. This 
memorial produced considerable debate in the assembly, but 
the popular party stood firmly, and elected Mr. Franklin by 
a vote of nineteen to eleven. The minority proffered a pro- 
test, comprising the objections in the memorial, but the house 
refusing them permission to enter it upon their minutes, they 
published it with their signatures attached. The treasury 
being at this time empty, the necessary funds for the outfit of 



432 Hisroi'.Y or penxsylvavia. p7Gi 

the agent were advanced by individuals. This opposition to 
the appointment of Dr. Franklin affected him deepl}^; having 
been made by men with whom he had long been connected 
in public and private life, among whom were Messrs. Dick- 
enson, Bryan, and M'Connaughey. On the eve of his de- 
parture, he published some remarks on the protest, which 
produced a most virulent and calumnious warfare between 
his friends and the conspicuous members of the proprietary 
party, in which Mr. Allen, the chief justice, was a distinguished 
sufferer.* 

The efforts of the American colonies to stay the mad career 
of the English ministry proved unavailing. The stamp act 
w^as passed with slight opposition by the commons, and with 
unanimity by the lords. t Dr. Franklin laboured earnestly to 
avert a measure which his sagacity and extensive acquaint- 
ance with the American people taught him was pregnant 
with danger to the British empire; but he entertained not the 
idea that it would be forcibly resisted. He wrote to Mr. 
Charles Thompson, " The sun of liberty is set, you must light 
up the candles of industry and economy." To which Mr. 
Thompson replied, " he was apprehensive that other lights 
would be the consequence." To Mr. Ingersol, the doctor 
said, "Go home and tell your people to get children as fast 

* Dr. Franlilin was appointed 25th October, 1764, and left the province 
November 1. 

Mr. Hughes, the friend of Mr. Frankhn, to bring the doctor's friends and 
enemies to some issue, proposed in the public journals that, if Mr. Allen 
or any gentleman of character would avow himself the author of a pam- 
phlet, entitled " An answer to Mr. Franklin's remarks on a late protest," a 
proper reply should be made to the pamphlet; and, on condition that such 
person would engage to pay the sum of five pounds for every falsehood or 
gross misrepresentation contained in such pamphlet to the Pennsylvania 
hospital, Mr. Hughes would pay five pounds to the same use for every 
charge which should be proved against the doctor's character: the arbitra- 
ment to be decided by referees from other colonies. 

f The stamp act was passed on the 22nd of March, 1765. It was under 
consideration of parliament in March of the foregoing year, but was post- 
poned, it was said, by the exertions of Mr. Allen, chief justice of Pennsyl- 
vania, at that time on a visit to London. 



1765] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 433 

as they can," intimating, that the period for successful oppo- 
sition had not yet arrived. 

Although the assembly of Pennsylvania was in session 
when tidings of the passage of the stamp act reached Phila- 
delphia, they took no public notice of it; but if their indig- 
nation was momentarily restrained, by prudential motives, 
they were not insensible to the violation of their rights. The 
assembly of Virginia, also in session at this time, by the adop- 
tion of the resolutions offered by Mr. Patrick Henry, assert- 
ing the exclusive right of that colony to tax herself, prepared 
the people of the greater part of the provinces for systematic 
opposition. The assembly of Massachusetts proposed that a 
congress of committees from the assemblies of the several 
provinces should be convened at New York, on the second 
Tuesday of October, to consult on the present state of the 
colonies. This proposition was communicated to Mr. Fox, 
speaker of the Pennsylvania assembly, in June, but was not 
laid before the house until September; but immediately upon 
its receipt, he convened such of the members as were resident 
in the city, or its vicinity, and by their instructions gave 
assurances to Massachusetts of the disposition of Pennsylva- 
nia to support the measure. Upon the meeting of the assem- 
bly, Messrs. Fox, Dickenson, Bryan, and Morton, were 
appointed on the part of the province, "to consult with the 
committees appointed by the other colonies on the present 
circumstances of the colonies, and the difficulties they are, 
and must be reduced to, by acts of parliament, for levying 
duties and taxes upon them; and to join with the said com- 
mittees in loyal and dutiful addresses to the king, and two 
houses of parliament, humbly representing the condition of 
these colonies, and imploring relief by a repeal of the said 
acts." The committee was strictly enjoined to frame their 
addresses in the most respectful terms, avoiding every ex- 
pression that might be offensive to his majesty, or to either 
house of parliament,* 

The sense of the assembly of Pennsylvania upon the stamp 

* Votes. 
55 



434 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1765 

act was more fully expressed in ten resolutions, reported by 
a committee,* declaring, That the province, whenever re- 
quired by his majesty for carrying on military operations for 
the defence of America, had most cheerfully contributed its 
full proportion of men and money: That when in future his 
majesty shall require aid from the inhabitants in a constitu- 
tional manner, it will be their duty most cheerfully and 
liberally to grant their proportion of men and money for the 
defence, security, and other public services of the British 
American colonies: That the inhabitants of the province are 
entitled to all the liberties, rights, and privileges of his ma- 
jesty's subjects in Great Britain or elsewhere; and that the 
constitution of the government of this province, being found- 
ed on the natural rights of mankind, and the noble principles 
of English liberty, is, or ought to be, perfectly free: That it 
is the inherent biith-riglit and indubitable privilege of every 
British subject to be taxed only by his own consent, or that 
of his legal representatives, in conjunction with his majesty, 
or his substitutes: That the only legal representatives of the 
inhabitants of this province are the persons thej^ annually 
elect to serve them as members of assembly: That the tax- 
ation of the people by any other power than their represen- 
tatives in assembly is unconstitutional, and subversive of their 
most valuable rights, of the public liberty, and destructive of 
public happiness: That to vest in courts of admiralty power 
to decide suits relating to the stamp act, and other matters, 
foreign to their^jurisdiction, is highly dangerous to the liber- 
ties of his majesty's American subjects, contrary to magna 
charta, and destructive of trial by jury: That the restraints 
laid by the late acts of parliament on the trade of the pro- 
vince, at a time when the people laboured under an enormous 
load of debt, must of necessity be attended with fatal conse- 
quences, not only to the province, but to the trade of the 
mother country: That the assembly deem it their duty thus 
firmly to assert, with modesty and decency, their inherent 
rights, that posterity may learn, that it was not by their con- 

• (M.riim'uUc, Xiessis. !rU-ettel, WiUinij, Knighl, Ptarson, Wrig-iit, Allen 
unci Ross. 



1765] HISTOKY OF PENNSYLVANIA. ' 435 

sent that taxes should be levied upon them by otliers than 
their representatives; and that these resolves might bear tes- 
timony oi" the zeal and ardent desire uf the present house, lo 
preserve iheir inestimable rights, whiei), as Englishmen, they 
possessed since the province was settled, and to transmit them 
to their children. 

The bill for raising troops for the western expedition under 
colonel Bonquet, received the sanction of the {governor on 
the thirtieth of May, 1764, but the conjpiiment of forces was 
not obtained until August. On the fifth of that month the 
troops assembled at Carlisle, under their officers, lieutenant- 
colonel Francis, and lieutenant-colonel Clayton. After an 
address from the governor, designed to inspirit the men, and 
deter them from desertion, the command of the Pennsylvania 
quota was delivered to colonel Bonquet, under vvhomcoloiiel 
Reid served as second in chief. War had been declared by 
governor Penn against the Shawanese and Delaware Indians, 
and their confederates, on the seventh of July. On the thir- 
teenth of August the army reached fort Loudon, having lost, 
in eight days, three hundred men by desertion; and on the 
fifteenth of September arrived at Pitisburg, where it was re- 
inforced by troops from Virginia. Whilst at furt Loudon, 
colonel Bonquet received despatches from colonel Bradslreet, 
dated Presqu'isle, August 14, informing him that peace 
had been concluded with the Delaware and Shawanese; but 
as these savages continued their murders and depredations, 
the former placed no confidence in their sincerity, and re- 
solved to prosecute his enterprise unless countermanded by 
general Gage. But that officer, for like reasons, refused to 
ratify the treaty, and renewed his commands to both armies 
to attack the enemy. The propriety of this resolution was 
soon obvious. The express sent to colonel Bradstreet from 
fort Pitt with Bonquet's answer to his communication was 
murdered, and his head placed on a pole in the middle of the 
road. With faitliless policy the Indians had entered into the 
treaty of Presqu'isle, merely to gain time for removing their 
families.* 

* Fenn. Gazette. Hutchins' account of the expedition against the Ohio 
Indians. 



436 lllSTOUY OF I'F.NNSYl.VAMA. [1765 

On tlie third of October colonel Bonquet, witli fifteen hun- 
dred men, departed from Pittsburg, and on the evening of 
the twenty-fifth encamped at the forks of the Muskingum 
river, in the heart of the hostile Indian country. This 
promptitude, supported by the reputation acquired by the 
colonel in the preceding year, intimidated the enemy, and 
induced him to sue for peace. Conferences wereholden with 
the several tribes of Delavvares, Senecas, and Shawanese; 
who, having surrendered such of their white prisoners as 
were immediately within their power, and given pledges for 
the restoration of such as could not then be brought in, were 
compelled to render hostages for their good behaviour until 
peace should be concluded with sir William Johnson, who 
was empowered by the crown to treat with them. 

The conduct of the British commander throughout this 
expedition was distinguished by prudence and firmness, which 
made a durable impression on the minds of the Indians, whose 
ready and humble submission witnessed their reverence for 
his character. They obeyed his commands implicitly, and 
suffered him to depose a chieftain of the Turtle tribe for de- 
lay in appearing before him, electing another at his bidding. 

Two hundred and six prisoners, n)en, women, and children, 
were restored; many of whom wore joyfully received in the 
camp by their relatives, who had joined the army with the 
design of redeeming them from slavery, or avenging their 
deaths. Some of the captives had dwelt long enough with 
the Indians to acquire a taste for their wild and simple life, 
and to inspire their masters with ardent affection. Force 
was necessary in several instances to bring the prisoners to 
the camp, where their captors, with cheeks bedewed with 
tears, delivered them to their countrymen, loading them with 
corn, skins, and other property, bestowed upon them whilst 
in the Indian families. On the return of the army, some of 
the Indians obtained leave to accompany their former cap- 
tives to fort Pitt, and employed themselves in hunting and 
carrying provisions for them on the road. "These qualities 
in savages," says the author of the historical account of the 



1765] HISTORY OF I'ENNSYLVANIA. 437 

expedition against the Ohio Indians,* "challenge our just 
esteem. They should make us charitably consider their bar- 
barities as the effect of wrong education, and false notions of 
bravery and heroism; whilst we should look on their virtues 
as sure marks that nature has made them fit subjects of cul- 
tivation as well as us, and that we are called by our superior 
advantages to yield them all the helps we can in this way. 
Cruel and unmerciful as they are by habit and long example, 
in war, yet whenever they give way to the native dictates of 
humanity, they exercise virtues which Christians need not 
blush to imitate. When they once determine to give life, 
they give every thing with it which, in their apprehension, 
belongs to it. From every inquiry that has been made, it 
appears, that no woman thus saved is preserved from base 
motives, or need fear the violation of her honour; no child 
is otherwise treated by the person adopting it than the chil- 
dren of his own body; the perpetual slavery of those capti- 
vated in war, is a notion which even their barbarity has not 
yet suggested to them; every captive whom their affection, 
their caprice, or whatever else, leads them to save, is soon 
incorporated with them, and fares alike with themselves." 
From their appearance, and their own statements, the Indians 
suffered greatly during the war. Their clothes, ammunition, 
and provisions, were expended, and the most abject misery 
prevailed among them. In their reduced and feeble state, 
the whites found greater assurance of safety than in their re- 
turning friendship. 

The army returned to fort Pitt on the twenty-eighth of 
November. The regular troops were sent to garrison the 
several posts on the route of communication with the inte- 
rior, and the provincial soldiers and restored prisoners to their 
several provinces. Cessation of hostilities was proclaimed 
on the fifth of December, and colonel Bonquet arrived in Phi- 
ladelphia early in January. He was honoured with votes of 
thanks by the legislatures of Virginia and Pennsylvania; the 

* 1 1 111 chins. 



438 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1765 

former requested the governor lo recommend him to his ma- 
jesty's ministers, as an ofTicer of distinguished merit, in this 
as in every former service in which he had been engaged. 
But before this recommendation reached the royal ear, he 
was promoted to tlie rank of brigadier-general, and to the 
command of the southern district of America, 

The Indians, faithful to. their engagements upon this occa- 
sion-, delivered up their prisoners at the promised time; and 
concluded by their deputies a satisfactory treaty with sir Wil- 
liam Johnson; who, in the preceding August, had negotiated a 
treaty at Niagara with two thousand other Indians, embracing 
the Six nations, and delegates from most of the northern and 
western tribes, stipulating for the surrender of their prisoners, 
indemnification for losses sustained by the traders, and ces- 
sions of large tracts of land between the lakes Ontario and 
Erie. 

During this war, the barbarous policy introduced by the 
French, and recommended by the agents of the Paxton in- 
surgents, was again resorted to for the destruction of the 
enemy. By the proclamation of the seventh of July, 1764, 
governor Penn offered the following bounties for the capture, 
or scalp, in proof of the death, of an Indian; — for every male 
above the age of ten years captured, one hundred and fifty 
dollars; scalped, being killed, one hundred and thirty-four 
dollars; and for every female Indian enemy, and every male 
under the age of ten years, captured, one hundred and thirty 
dollars; for every female above the age of ten years scalped, 
being killed, fifty dollars. 

The British ministry, desirous to render the stamp act as 
little obnoxious as possible, resolved to appoint the officers of 
distribution and collection from among the discreet and re- 
putable inhabitants of the provinces. A meeting of the 
colonial agents in London was held at the office of Mr. Gren- 
ville, and they were requested to nominate fit persons for 
the performance of these duties. Dr. Franklin recommended 
his friend and admirer, John Hughes of Philadelphia, who 

* Votes. 



1765] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA- 439 

was accordingly commissioned. This act of the doctor was 
greatly misrepresented in Europe and America. The friends 
of parliamentary supremacy in the one, regarded it as an ad- 
mission of the British right, whilst the friends of liberty in 
the other, especially among the proprietary party in Penn- 
sylvania, affected to consider it as an abandonment of her 
cause. .The delusion, however, was momentary only; the 
frank and decisive conduct of Franklin soon removitig this 
false colouring.* 

But there existed no means to reconcile the people to a law 
every where regarded as the forerunner of political slavery. 
The stamp officers were hung or burned in effigy, in several 
of the provinces; and violent outrages were committed on 
the persons and property of the deputy-governor and other 
officers at Boston. On Saturday, the fifth of October, the 
ship Royal Charlotte, bearing the stamped papers for Jersey, 
Maryland, and Pennsylvania, convoyed by a sloop of war, 
arrived at Philadelphia. On the appearance of these ships 
around Gloucester point, ail the vessels in the harbour hoisted 
their colours at half-mast, the bells were muffled, and every 
countenance assumed the semblance of mourninji. At four 
o'clock of the afternoon, many thousand citizens assembled 
at the state house to consider of the means for preventing the 
distribution of the stamps. The first step proposed, was to 
require Mr. Hughes to resign his commission. A deputation 
of seven gentlemen waited upon him for that purpose, to 
whom he gave assurances that he would not attempt to en- 
force the stamp act until it should be generally submitted to 
in the other colonies, but he refused to resign his office. The 
indignant multitude refrained from resorting to violent mea- 
sures, in consideration of the dangerous sickness with which 
he was then afflicted. Instead of repairing to his house, as 
was first designed, they contented themselves with exacting 
from him a written declaration, by the succeeding Monday, 
that he would not execute his office. His answer, reiterating 
the assurance he had given to the committee, was received 

* Frankliii's Memoirs, raniplilels. 



440 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l765 

by the people with shouts of approbation. They suffL-red 
him for the present to retain his commission; but becoming 
convalescent, he was compelled to enter into a public engage- 
ment that he would not assume his office until required so to 
do by the people.* The stamps brought by the Royal Char- 
lotte, and others which subsequently arrived at Philadelphia, 
were secured, with the assent of the people, on board liis 
majesty's ship of war Sardine, then lying in the harbour. 

By the law the stamp duty was to commence on the first 
of November. On the previous day the newspapers were put 
in mourning for their own approaching extinction; the editors 
having resolved to suspend their publication until some plan 
should be devised to protect them from the penalties of pub- 
lishing without stamps. The term of suspension, however, 
was short. On the seventh of November a semi-sheet was 
issued from the office of the Pennsylvania Gazette, without 
title or mark of designation, headed, " No stamped paper to 
be had;" and, on the fourteenth of the same month, another, 
entitled, *' Remarkable Occurrences;" both were in the or- 
dinary form of the Gazette, and on the twenty-first, its regu- 
lar publication was resumed.! 

The inhabitants generally resolved to manufacture for 
themselves, and to obtain a supply of wool they determined 
to refrain from the use of lamb during the year. This was 
not more a measure of resentment than of necessity, growing 
out of the restrictions on their trade with the foreign West 
Indies and South America. The merchants and traders of 
Philadelphia cheerfully followed the example of the other 
commercial towns, by adopting a non-importation agreement, 
pledging themselves neither to give orders for shipping goods 
nor to sell merchandise sent them on commission, except such 
as should be manufactured in Ireland, and be imported direct- 
ly from thence. The names of more than four hundred traders 

• The reluctance of Mr. Hughes to accede to the wishes of the people, 
rendered him very unpopular, and occasioned his expulsion from a fire 
company, of which he wa»a member. 

I Penn. (Tazctle. 



1765] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 441 

were obtained to this agreement, by the committee appointed 
for that purpose.* 

The universal refusal of the inhabitants of the colonies to 
submit to the stamp act, occasioned the entire suspension of 
legal proceedings. In some of the provinces, however, busi- 
ness was speedily resumed, and in nearly all, the penalties of 
the act were braved before its repeal. In Pennsylvania the 
public offices were closed on the gloomy first of November, 
and were not opened until May, some days after news had 
been received of the intended repeal of the act. 

Delegates from the assemblies of Massachusetts, Rhode 
Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
Delaware, Marj'land, and South Carolina, assembled at New 
York at the tinrie appointed, t The provinces of New Hamp- 
shire, Georgia, Virginia, and North Carolina, did not send 
deputies; but the two former gave assurances of their dispo- 
sition to unite in petitions to the king and parliament; the 
assemblies of the two latter not having been In session since 
the proposition for a congress had been made, had no oppor- 
tunity to act upon the subject. Having chosen for their chair- 
man Mr. Timothy Ruggles, of Massachusetts, the congress 
adopted a declaration of their rights and grievances, upon 
which they founded a petition to the king, and a memorial to 
parliament. In these instruments they claimed the full rights 
and privileges of English subjects, averred the plenary legis- 
lative power of the colonial assemblies, protested against tax- 
ation by parliament, and the abolition of the trial by jury; 
and earnestly pressed upon the attention of the parent state, 
the burdens imposed by the stamp, and other acts, with the 
utter impossibility of continuing the execution of the former, 
in consequence of the drain of specie it would produce. A 
difference of opinion prevailed upon the question, whether 
the petitions and memorials should be signed and transmitted 
by the congress, or should be sanctioned and forwarded by 

* Names of the committee: Thomas Willing, Samuel Mifflin, Thomas 
Montgomery, Samuel Howell, Samuel Wharton, John Rhea, William 
Fisher, Joshua Fisher, Peter Chevalier, Benjamin Fuller, and Abel James. 

t Second Tuesday of October. 
56 



442 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1765 

the provincial assemblies, as their several acts. Messrs. Rug- 
g!es, of Massachusetts, and Ogden, of New Jersey, believing 
in the propriety of the latter mode, refused to sign with the 
other delegates; but their conduct was censured by their 
constituents, and Mr. Ogden, thereupon, resigned his seat in 
the assembly, of which he was speaker. Two of the dele- 
gates only from Pennsylvania signed these papers; Mr. Fox 
not having attended the congress, and Mr. Dickinson having 
been called home by his private affairs before the addresses 
were prepared. The whole proceedings were cordially ap- 
proved by the assembly of Pennsylvania, who voted their 
thanks to their committee. 

During these cis-atlantic endeavours to obtain redress for 
American grievances, the colonial agents, the friends of fi'ee- 
dom and equal rights, and the merchants interested in the 
American trad.e, were not idle in Great Britain. The refusal 
to import her manufactures touched her in a vital part. The 
great diminution of orders for goods, so honourable to the 
self-control of the colonists, compelled a powerful class of 
traders to advocate liberal principles, who, under other cir- 
cumstances, would have buried their love for political freedom 
beneath the hopes of lessening their own burdens by a revenue 
from America. The colonial agents, and those generous 
spirits which could appreciate the injuries of the Americans, 
were actively.employed in making converts to their cause by 
the force of reason, whilst the merchants, manufacturers, and 
labourers, filled the kingdom with their cries against the im- 
policy of measures, which, designed to replenish the treasury, 
had resulted in the diminution of commerce, the suspension 
of remittances from the colonies, and the derangement of the 
business of a vast portion of the empire. Powerful as this 
combination certainly was, it was resisted by the most impe- 
rious passions, the pride and avarice of the people. The lofty 
position assumed by the Americans was intolerable. They 
had long been viewed as men of an inferior race. The arro- 
/ gant philosophy of Europe had placed them and the animal 
productions of their country low in the scale of perfectibility. 
By the mass of the English vulgar they were ranked with 



1765] HisroRY OF pknnsylvania. 443 

savages and negroes. The colonies, the dependencies of Great 
Britain, on which she had for years poured forth the scour- 
ings of her prisons, had denied her supremacy, and refused 
to submit to her parliament, hitherto deemed throughout her 
vast empire politically omnipotent. With the sin of a rebel- 
lious temper, they were also charged with ingratitude. Under 
the pressure of accumulated debt and heavy taxation, the 
English people envied the display of wealth by the provin- 
cialists during the late war, and forgot that its exhibition was 
made in the common cause, with a generosity which had en- 
forced from English justice the return of a million sterling. 
Thus supported, the ministry that sought relief for the peo- 
ple by taxing American industry, would scarcely have been 
driven from their purpose. But other causes transferred the 
government to other statesmen, whom consistency required 
at least to reverse measures, which they had denounced with 
unqualified reprobation. 

Under the new ministers an inquiry was instituted into the 
effects of the colonial policy of their predecessors. The mer- 
chants and manufacturers gave ample testimony of the para- 
lysis in trade, whilst Dr. Franklin, a? the representative of 
America, before a committee of the whole house of com- 
mons, demonstrated the impossibility of levying the new im- 
positions, and the consequent necessity of their repeal. The 
majority of parliament was now divided into two parties: 
The larger one affirmed the right to tax the colonies, but de- 
nied the expediency of its present exercise; the other, led by 
Mr. Pitt, repudiated this right, on the ground that all aids are 
gifts from the people, and can never be legally obtain>ed with- 
out their assent, and that this assent could not be had in par- 
liament, since the colonists were not there represented, A 
repeal on these principles, however just, according to the 
English constitution, would not have saved the pride of the 
nation, and would have destroyed the hopes of future revenue 
at the will of parliament. Hence the repeal of the stamp act, 
which took place on the eighteenth of March, by a vote of 
two hundred and seventy-five to one hundred arid sixty-seven, 
was accompanied by a declaration of the right of parliament 



444 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA, [1765 

to tax America. It was followed by an act indemnifying 
those who had incurred penalties on account of stamp duties. 
The tidings of this event were received in America with 
joy more temperate than might have been expected from the 
excitement of the public mind. The prudence displayed on 
this occasion had been earnestly recommended by a committee 
of merchants in London trading with America, and by others 
friendly to American interests. At Philadelphia, the master 
of the vessel which brought the news was presented with a 
gold lace hat. On the evening following his arrival (twen- 
tieth of May) the city was illuminated, bonfires were light- 
ed, and many barrels of beer distributed among the populace; 
but there was no riot or disorder. The principal inhabitants 
gave an entertainment, at which the. mayor, assisted by the 
aldermen, presided, and the governor and strangers of dis- 
tinction were guests. At the close of the festival it was 
unanimously resolved by the company, that, in gratitude for 
the repeal of the stamp act, each would, on the birth-day of 
his majesty, dress himself in English manufactures, and give 
his home-spun to the poor. Some hundreds of citizens were 
present, and conducted themselves with remarkable decorum. 
Whilst in their toasts they lauded their friends in England 
and America, they avoided the arrogance of triumph, and 
refrained from reproaching those who might have been deemed 
their enemies. The birth-day of the king (the four-h of June) 
was celebrated with great pomp and splendour. The assem- 
bly dined with the governor, and a /He was held by the citi- 
zens on the banks of the Schuylkill. During the whole of 
the late interesting controversy the conduct of Pennsylvania 
was exemplary. Her firm resistance of the stamp act, and 
the principles on which it was based, was evinced by the re- 
solutions of the assembly, the unanimous refusal of her citizens 
to use the stamps, and the accurate, profoundj and temperate 
discussion of the rights of the colonies, and of the parent 
state, in the journals and pamphlets of the day. But there 
was no noisy associations of self-styled sojis of liberlT/, nor 
destruction of the property belonging to officers of the crown. 
Even the stamp officer, as we have seen, was suffered to re- 



1766] HISTORY OF PEXNSYLVANIA. 445 

tain his commission upon his simple pledge not to exercise 
it unless requested by the people. General Conway, secretary 
of state, on communicating officially to the governor the re- 
peal of the stamp act, requested him to assure the assembly 
of his majesty's approbation of the wise, prudent, and dutiful 
behaviour of the province, amid the too prevailing distractions 
which had so generally agitated the colonies. 

To effect the specie payment of the stamp duties, it was 
deemed necessary to prohibit by act of parliament the making 
of future issues of paper money in the colonies a lawful ten- 
der. In Pennsylvania this act was a serious grievance, and 
the assembly instructed their agents earnestly to solicit its 
repeal; in support of which they relied upon the assistance of 
the American merchants in London; since without such re- 
peal, the exports to the colonies would be limited, and the 
people reluctantly driven to manufacture for themselves. 

On the thirteenth of July, died the venerable Isaac Nor- 
ris, after a long indisposition. He was a statesman of dis- 
tinguished reputation, and an active and upright magistrate. 
In the political disputes of the colony, he uniformly adhered 
to the popular party, and possessed its unvarying confidence. 
He succeeded his father as a burgess of the city in the year 
1735, and represented the city or county of Philadelphia for 
thirty years successively in the assembly. In 1759, he soli- 
cited his constituents to release him from the service to which 
he had been so long devoted, declaring it to have been his 
intention some years before, to retire from public life; <• but 
that the violent attacks of power openly made upon their 
rights, had induced him still longer to bear the burden of 
contending with unreasonable men, however inconvenient 
to his private affairs; but resolving never to ask a vole to 
get into the house, nor, when there, to solicit for any employ- 
ments or posts of private advantage, he had made this the 
invariable rule of his conduct. I have now," continued he, 
"served you three times seven years complete, and have 
discharged my duty cheerfully, as a debt due to my country, 
to the best of my understanding, through the vigour of my 
life and health; but as my years advance, and my health be- 



4-16 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l76f 

comes very precarious, I request and desire that you will ac- 
quit me from further attendance, and choose some other per- 
son at the ensuing election to represent you in my stead." 
Notwithstanding this earnest appeal, he was again returned 
at the ensuing election, and continued to be re-elected until 
1765, when his infirm health, and dissatisfaction with the at- 
tempt to change the proprietary government, induced him 
peremptorily to refuse a re-election. 

During the years 1767and 1768, the annals of Pennsylvania 
afford few subjects of historical interest. An effort was made 
to supply an alleged deficiency in the circulating medium, 
by the emission of promissory notes from an association of 
merchants in the city of Philadelphia. But the public either 
had not confidence in the plan or members of this association, or 
the addition they designed to the currency was unnecessary. 
For, on the remonstrance of the citizens, the assembly re- 
solved that the issue of such notes had a manifest tendency 
to injure the trade of the province, and to depreciate the va- 
lue of its currency. Under such reproof, this early attempt 
at banking proved abortive.* 

But the assembly was unable to suppress a measure highly 
repugnant to their moral principles. The religion of the 
Quakers, as well as that of the various sects who draw their 
creed from the school of Calvin, condemn most species 
of public amusements as dangerous to public morals, af- 
fording temptations to inordinate excitement of the passions, 
and opportunities for the indulgence of vicious propensities. 
Dramatic performances, balls, and concerts, were considered 
especially condemnable. Yet the intercourse of the inhabit- 
ants of Philadelpliia with the troops and strangers brought 
there by the war, had so relaxed this austerity, that balls, 
plays, and concerts, became favourite amusements. A theatre 
was erected at considerable expense in Southwark, where 
plays were exhibited, notwithstanding the assembly remon- 
strated with the governor upon their pernicious influence, and 
urged him to prohibit them.t 

• Votes. t Votes. The curious reader will find a short historical 

notice of the Philadelphia theatre in Mr. Mease's Picture of Philadelphia, 



1767] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 447 

The fruitful and enduring source of Indian complaint and hos- 
tility, the encroachments of the whites upon unpurchased In- 
dian lands, threatened another war. Immediately after the late 
pacification, the governors of Pennsylvania and Virginia, by 
proclamations, forbade settlements upon such lands. But the dif- 
ficulties, in some instances real, though often pretended, which 
the out settlers found in discovering the boundaries designated 
in Indian treaties, served to extenuate continued aggression. 
Settlements, however, were made on Indian lands at Red- 
stone creek, and Cheat river, and upon lands ceded to the 
Indians in Pennsylvania, which were audaciously projected 
and pertinaciously pursued. To this, other causes of dissa- 
tisfaction were added. Several individuals of the Seneca 
tribe were murdered; and a party, whilst pursuing their way 
to war with the southern Indians, were attacked, without 
provocation, in Virginia, and many of them slain. The de- 
sire of vengeance for the horrible massacre at Lancaster was 
still unappeased, whilst new barbarities of the most atrocious 
kind were perpetrated by the whites. One Frederick Stump, 
a German resident in Penn township, Cumberland county, 
with the assistance of a serving-man, murdered at his own 
house, four male and two female Indians, who, on their 
journey, had sought his hospitality. He cast the bodies of 
his victims into Perm's creek, through a hole in the ice, 
and proceeded to a cabin about four miles from his house, 
where he found two" Indian girls and one child, whom he 
also slew, and setting fire to the cabin, endeavoured to con- 
sume their remains. In defence of these horrible crimes, the 
monster alleged, that he apprehended injury from his visiters, 
who were intoxicated and disorderly, and that the tenants of the 
cabin might learn the tidings of their death and communicate 
them to their tribe. When thiscrime was known, the magistrate 
prepared to arrest the criminals; but their indignant neigh- 
bours seized and lodged them in prison at Carlisle, whence 
the sheriff, by a warrant from the chief justice, was directed 
to convey them to Philadelphia for examination. Their re- 
moval was delayed, by order of the magistrates, either from 
an apprehension that the government designed, under a late 



448 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1767 

law, to try them in the city, or that they would be rescued 
by the people, who regarded the act, directing the trial of of- 
fences against the Indians to be had out of the county in which 
they were connmitted, as tyrannical and oppressive, and preg- 
nant with danger of unjust conviction ; the inhabitants of 
Philadelphia being supposed to entertain strong prejudices 
against those of the frontier counties, on the subject of Indian 
relations. If fear of rescue of the prisoners on their way to 
Philadelphia were the true cause of the interference of the 
magistrates, due care should have been taken to keep them 
safely at Carlisle. But this was not done. The friends of 
Stump — for even he had friends — together with many others, 
who would have quietly seen him executed in the county of 
Cumberland, conspired to liberate him, and effected their de- 
sign by forcing the prison, and intimidating the jailer. 

These manifold and grievous injuries were deeply felt 
by the Indian tribes, who sought to avenge them by new 
combinations against the whites. Sir William Johnson, 
and his deputy-agent, George Croghan, having penetrated 
their designs, hastened to communicate them, through gene- 
ral Gage and the governor of Pennsylvania, to the assembly, 
and to urge the adoption of proper measures to prevent fur- 
ther intrusion on the unseated lands, and to appease the cries 
of vengeance arising for the unatoned murders. The house 
applied themselves earnestly to these objects. A law was 
enacted for removing trespassers, prohibiting their return 
under the penalty of death, and funds were liberally voted 
for carrying it into execution; renewed efforts were made to 
discover the perpetrators of the massacres at Conestoga and 
Lancaster; and a petition to the crown was prepared, pray- 
ing for the establishment of a general boundary line between 
the whites and Indians. The last measure had long been the 
subject of negotiation between sir William Johnson and the 
Six nations; and the procrastination had given rise to great 
doubts of the sincerity of the English. Upon the recom- 
mendation of Sir William, the assembly placed at his disposal 
the sum of three thousand pounds, to be expended in propi- 
tiation of the savages. 



I 767 J HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 449 

These well-timed measures soothed the minds of the In- 
dians; and a treaty made at fort Stanwix, in 1769, with the 
Six nations, the Delawares, and Shawanese, at which a gene- 
ral boundary was fixed along the middle provinces, and a 
purchase made by the proprietaries of Pennsylvania, of a 
large tract of country within that boundary, removed the 
causes of Indian complaint, and gave grateful assurances to 
the people of continued peace. About the same time, the 
management of the Indian trade, which was taken from sir 
William Johnson, devolved upon the assemblies of the pro- 
vinces concerned in that commerce. He was compelled to 
discharge the commissioners, interpreters, and smiths, at the 
several posts, and requested the assembly of Pennsylvania to 
appoint successors, for those stationed in their province. But 
the attention of the assembly was absorbed by subjects of 
deeper interest, or they deemed it not unwise to suflfer the 
Indian trade to remain without regulation. 



57 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Disposition of the English nation towards America""Reve- 
nue act proposed and carried by Charles Townsend"- -Rea- 
sons for this measure Proceedings of the assembly of 

Pennsylvania in relation to revenue act"««Farmer's letters 
by Mr. Dickenson, effect of' •••Non-importation agreement 
resorted to^^-^Repeal of part of the duties^^^^Tax on tea re- 
tained^'-^Modification of the non-importation law* •••Quies- 
cent state of the public mind Protest of Pennsylvania 

against the modified duty Wyoming controversy^-^'* 

Want of precision in the early charters- •••Extent of terri- 
tory granted" "Pretensions of the Connecticut colony to 
lands in Pennsylvania considered'-'^Purchase by Connecti- 
cut adventurers of the Indians at Albany Character of 

that purchase Susquehannah company of Connecticut 

formed^ •••Attempt to obtain the sanction of the crown for 
their proceedings — Connecticut settlers on the Susquehan- 
nah- •••Their violent expulsion of settlers under Pennsylva- 
nia titre""Outrages committed by Stewart and Butler^-" 
Arrest and escape of Stewart* •••Renewed intrusion of Stew- 
art and Butler^^^ •Their devastations^-- -Inhabitants, under 
colonel Clayton, retire to a fort^-'-Siege and surrender of 
the fort — Proceedings of the government of Pennsylvania 
• •-•Connecticut resolves to sustain the intrusion of their 
citizens Remonstrance of the inhabitants Incorpo- 
rates a township in Pennsylvania----Overtures to governor 
Penn rejected Connecticut claimants endeavour to ex- 
tend their possessions- ---Interference of congress invoked 
by Pennsylvania Recommendation of congress Pro- 
ceedings of Pennsylvania- ---Attempt by the executive to 
repel the intruders from Wyoming- ---Unsuccessful- ---Con- 
clusion of the controversy New alarms of Indian hos- 



l^SrJ HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA, 451 

tility""Atrocious plan charged on lord Dunmore"'«Im- 
probable and unsupported- "Attack on the Indians by Cresap 
and others'«--Logan--«-Proceeding of the governor of Penn- 
sylvania on the rumour of Indian war- •••Fort at Pittsburg 
seized by Connolly at the command of lord Dunmore--" 
Dunmore claims jurisdiction of the country west of the Al- 
leghany, comprised in the Pennsylvania charter — Seduces 

the settlers- •••His proclamation Conduct of governor 

Penn in relation to the Indians and Dunmore^^'^Assembly 
of Pennsylvania employ rangers^^ ••Indian war in Virginia 
• •••Battle of Kanhav/a-^^'Peace with Indians-^«^Edward Bid- 
die elected speaker of assembly^^^^Judges appointed. 

The repeal of the stamp act, however grateful to the friends 
of liberty, to the colonists, and to the English merchants 
trading with them, was not popular with the nation at large. 
The supremacy of the parliament was maintained by the mass 
of the people ; the hope of revenue from America was too fas- 
cinating to be surrendered without further exertion ; and the 
king beheld with high indignation the resistance to his autho- 
rity, and the political principles, whicli his American subjects 
had displayed. Moved by these considerations, Mr. Charles 
Townsend invited the attention of parliament again to the sub- 
ject of American taxation. He boasted, " that he knew how 
to draw a revenue from the colonies, without giving them of- 
fence;"" and, animated by the challenge of Mr. Grenville to 
make his vaunting true, he proposed and carried almost unani- 
mously, a bill imposing certain duties on tea, glass, paper, 
and painters' colours, imported into the colonies from Great 
Britain ; the proceeds of which were ajipropriated to the sup- 
port of government in America, so far as should be neces- 
sary, and the balance to be paid into the British treasury. 

This measure was founded in the belief that tlie colonists 
objected rather to the mode than to the right of taxation. 
There had been some inaccuracies in expressing their views 
of the statutes regulating their trade. They had declared 
themselves satisfied with the exercise of parliamentary power 
on this subject; but their approbation cxlcnded only to such 



■452 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. C^'^^^ 

regulations as tended to the modification of commerce for the 
general benefit of the empire. To every measure designed 
to tax them without their consent, they were irreconcilable. 
The bill of Mr. Townsend had the unequivocal character of 
a revenue law, and as such was avowedly enacted ; nor were 
the colonists slow to mark their apprehension of its true cha- 
racter. 

The assembly of Pennsylvania, on the twentieth of Fe- 
bruary, before the course of the other provinces was known, 
directed her agents in London " to co-operate with the agents 
of the other colonies in any decent and respectful application 
to parliament, in case such application should be made by 
them, for a repeal of the late acts imposing duties on the im- 
portation of paper, glass, &c. into the American provinces; 
which act, they said, was looked upon as highly injurious to 
the rights of the people, and their commercial interest." The 
legislature of Massachusetts addressed remonstrances to the 
king, to parliament, and to the ministers, and a letter to the 
several colonies. The latter contained an exposition of the 
subject of their remonstrances, a recapitulation of the argu- 
ments urged against the stamp act, and declared the taxes 
lately imposed to be inequitable, because exacting a duty upon 
the importation into America on British manufactures, in ad- 
dition to that paid on exportation from England; and that 
• the proposed disbursements of the revenue, in the payment 
of the salaries of the governors and judges appointed by the 
crown, had a tendency to subvert the principles of equity 
and to endanger the happiness and security of the subject. 

At their May sessions, the assembly directed acopy of this 
circular to be entered on their minutes. In September fol- 
lowing the governor laid before them a letter from the earl 
of Hillsborough, lately appointed to the new office of secre- 
tary for the colonies, denouncing the circular, as of the most 
dangerous and factious tendency, calculated to inflame the 
minds of the colonists, promote unwarrantable combinations, 
excite and encourage open opposition to, and denial of, the 
authority of parliament, and to subvert the true principles of 
the constitution. He was commanded "to use his utmost 



1768] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 453 

influence to defeat this flagitious attempt to disturb the public 
peace, by prevailing upon the assembly of his province to 
take no notice of it, thereby treating it with the contempt it 
deserved. The repeated proofs," continued the secretary, 
" which the assembly of Pennsylvania had given of their re- 
verence and respect for the constitution, left no doubt of their 
showing a proper resentment of this unjustifiable attempt to 
revive those distractions which have operated so fatally to the 
prejudice of the kingdom and colonies." But, should it be 
otherwise, and a disposition appear in the assembly to coun- 
tenance this seditious paper, the governor was further com- 
manded to prorogue or dissolve them. A command which 
could be executed by the abrogation of their charter only. 
Immediately after the letter had been read, Mr. Galloway, 
the speaker, laid before the house a circular, from the assem- 
bly of Virginia, recapitulating the grievances and arguments 
of Massachusetts, and recommending a union of the colonies, 
in opposition to measures having an immediate tendency to 
enslave them, by which means they anticipated the re-esta- 
blishment of the constitution upon its genuine principles. 

This recommendation was adopted uy the assembly; and 
a committee appointed to prepare petitions to the king, and 
upper and lower houses of parliament. And that no mistake 
might exist in regard to their sentiments on the letter of the 
earl of Hillsborough, they resolved, " that by their charter 
and laws, they had a right to sit on their own adjournments, 
and that the governor had no constitutional authority to pro- 
rogue or dissolve them; and that it was their undoubted right 
to correspond with the representatives of the freemen of any 
of his majesty's colonies in America, relative to grievances 
which might affect the general welfare of the colonies, in or- 
der to obtain, by decent petitions to his majesty and his par- 
liament, redress of such grievances." 

The petitions to the king and parliament, written probably 
by Mr. Allen, contain a clear and manly exposition of the 
unconstitutionality of the late revenue laws, and the probable 
consequence of their enforcement. " Our ancestors," say the 
j)etitioners in their address to the king, "■ near a century past, 



454 HISTORY OF 1'ENNSYLVANIA. [1768 

with a view oi enjoying that liberty, both civil and relis;ious, 
of which they, were in a great measure deprived in their na- 
tive land, to extend the empire of the British dominions, to 
increase its commerce, and promote its wealth and power, 
before the accession of your majesty's illustrious house to the 
British throne, removed from the mother country to the pro- 
vince of Pennsylvania, then a wilderness. The disadvantages, 
dangers, and distress necessarily attendant upon this separa- 
tion from their friends, relatives, and the land of their na- 
tivity, we trust, must appear to your majesty's wisdom too 
ev>ident to need a repetition; and, yet, with inexpressible 
labour, toil, and expense, and without the least assistance 
from the parent state, they, and their descendants, by their 
prudence and strict economy, have peopled, planted, and 
improved that wilderness into an extensive, and heretofore 
flourishing, colony; and thereby greatly added to the com- 
merce and wealth of the nation, and to the power and dignity 
of your majesty's empire." 

" While thus contributing to the welfare of the mother 
state, and struggling with innumerable difficulties to enlarge 
its dominions, we most humbly conceive, that your majesty's 
faithful subjects of this province, have, by no act whatever, 
surrendered up or forfeited tho.se constitutional rights and 
liberties, which were inseparably annexed to their persons as 
natural born subjects of the British government; but, on the 
contrary, that those rights brought over by our ancestors to 
this distant land, are now vested in their descendants as an 
inheritance the most importnnt and valuable, on the enjoy- 
ment whereof their future safety and happiness depend." 

" Thus possessed of the rights of Englishmen, derived to 
them from the most excellent constitution, and under a firm 
persuasion that the enjoyment and full exercise thereof, would 
be continued down to your |)eople of this colony, and their 
latest posterity, it is with inexpressible concern and anxiety 
that we find ourselves under the necessity of representing to 
your majesty, that certain duties and taxes for the sole pur- 
pose of raising a revenue have been imposed by parliament 
on your majesty's American subjects, although they have no 



1768] HISTOHY OK PENNSYLVANIA. 455 

representative or voice in that most respectable and august 
body. Tliat, this taxation we most humbly apprehend, is 
destructive of those rights and that freedom, which they are 
by birth entitled to, as men and Englishmen, who cannot be 
legally taxed, either by theprinciplesof equity or the consti- 
tution, but by themselves or legal representatives; and that, 
should this law remain unrepealed, and the commons of Great 
Britain exercise in future the power of granting the properly 
of your majesty's American subjects without their consent, 
and without having any constitutional opportunity of being 
informed of their true circumstances and ability to bear such 
taxation, which their situation and distance from the mother 
country render impracticable, your faithful people of these 
colonies will possess nothing which they can call their own. 
All security of property will be lost." 

" This right in the people of this province of being ex- 
empted from any taxations, save those imposed by their own 
representatives, has been recognised by long established usage 
and custom, ever since the settlement thereof, without one 
precedent to the contrary, until the passing of the late stamp 
act. Whenever your majesty, or your royal predecessors, 
have had occasion for aids to defend and secure the American 
colonies, requisitions have been constantly made of the as- 
semblies of this province, who, ever with the utmost cheer- 
fulness and loyalty, have granted them; and often so liberally, 
as to exceed the abilities and circumstances of the people, yet 
labouring under a heavy load of debt from that cause. The 
granting aids to tlie crown being the means of recommending 
themselves to your majesty's care and favour, it will be with 
the utmost distress that your faithful subjects of this colony 
shall see the commons of Great Britain, without their con- 
sent, disposing of their property, and thereby depriving ihem 
of a right which, in value and importance, they esteem above 
all others." 

After professing their attachment to his majesty's person, 
and their readiness to demonstrate their duty to his govern- 
ment, they proceed, " But, most gracious sovereign, should 
the commons of Great Britain persist in depriving us of tlus 



456 HISTORY or Pennsylvania. [1768 

most invaluable privilege, it will be with the deepest affliction 
that the people of these colonies must perceive so unfortunate 
a distinction established between your majesty's loyal British 
and American subjects; leaving the one in the full possession 
and exercise of all those rights which are necessary to the 
most perfect political liberty, and the other bereaved of that 
which alone constitutes the great security and foundation of all 
their other privileges; a distinction which, we fear, cannot fail 
of creating a disunion in sentiments and affections, jealousies 
and discords between them, to the great injury of the trade 
and commerce of the nation, and the prejudice of both coun- 
tries." 

The petitFons were sent to the provincial agents to be pre- 
sented. In them the assembly refrained from remarking 
upon the inexpediency of the revenue act, lest they should 
seem, for a moment, to admit its constitutionality. But, in 
their letter to their agents, they endeavoured to demonstrate, 
that the enforcement of the law would drive the colonies to 
manufacture the articles on which the duties were laid; or, 
that, as the duties were payable in coin, which could not be 
procured, importation of such articles would be impossible. 
They also condemned the use designed to be made of the 
revenue in the support of the executive and judicial officers: 
as making such officers independent of the people, where 
paid by the crown, or imposing on the provinces whose 
officers should not be so paid, the burden of contributing to 
the support of other colonies. 

The promptitude and unanimity of the assembly of Penn- 
sylvania, and the union of the colonies generally, on this oc- 
casion, has been, with great justice, ascribed to the judicious 
and eloquent essays of iVIr. John Dickenson, published as 
*< Letters from a farmer in Pennsylvania to the inhabitants 
of the British colonies." These papers, in which the rights 
of the colonists were ably maintained, were republished in 
every colony; and the people of Boston, in town meeting, 
voted a letter of thanks to their "patriotic, enlightened, and 
noble-spirited author." 



1770j HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 45T 

In the controversy upon the stamp act, the most effectual 
weapon of the colonists was found in their non-importation 
agreements. Recourse was now had to them to enforce the 
repeal of the revenue act; and, notwithstanding both houses 
of parliament had concurred, by a joint address, in approval 
of the ministerial measures, and had besought the king to 
constitute a special commission within the realm of Great 
Britain, for the trial of treasons and misprisons of treason, 
alleged to have been committed in Massachusetts, the mass 
of English trading population, feeling severely the conse- 
quences of those agreements, strongly urged the abrogation 
of the new duties. The ministry, afi'ected by the commercial 
distress, were desirous to give relief, but they were resolute 
to maintain the parliamentary right to tax the colonies. 

With criminal weakness, they adopted a middle course, re- 
markable for the ignorance it displays of the state of the 
public mind, and the nature of the public character, in Ame- 
rica. The earnest remonstrances, and prompt and energetic 
resistance of the colonists, had failed to convince them, that 
the assertion of the right, and not the amount of duty levied, 
was the true source of complaint. The ministers persist- 
ed in believing that a reduction of the tax would restore 
tranquillity. Under this delusion, assurances were given, 
in 1769, that five-sixths of the taxes imposed in 1767 should 
be repealed; and in 1770 the whole were abolished, save three 
pence a pound on tea. 

Adhering strictly to their principles, the colonists modi- 
fied their non-importation agreements to operate on tea alone. 
This they were better enabled to do, as that article could be 
obtained from continental Europe, by smuggling, in sufficient 
quantity, and at a less price than it could be regularly im- 
ported from Great Britain. The anticipation of revenue 
from continuing the act of parliament was, therefore, vain, 
and its preservation on the statute-book served but to keep 
the jealousies and fears of the provinces in constant activity, 
and to familiarize the minds of the people tp means of op- 
posing a power which, like the sword of Damocles, threat- 
ened momentary destruction. In some of the colonies, the 
58 



458 HISTORV OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1770 

non-importation asjreements were partially violated; but in 
the s^reater part they were sacredly observed. In Pennsyl- 
vania the duty was paid on a single chest of tea only. By 
the revenue act, in its modified form, the rights so dearly 
prized by the colonists were exposed to violation, but it de- 
pended on themselves to preserve them uninjured, since, 
whilst no dutiable tea was purchased, no duty was paid; and 
whilst this commodity was otherwise cheaply procured, the 
people suffered no privation. Hence a state of political quiet 
ensued the repealing act'of 1770. The ministry seemed dis- 
posed to avoid fuilher aggression, and the Americans, gene- 
rally, ceased to remonstrate and complain, though they did 
not cease to watch with lynx-eyed vigilance every movement 
of the British government, nor to discuss in public and pri- 
vate the relations between the colonies and parent state. 

The assembly of Pennsylvania renewed their protest against 
the revenue act, after its modification, as a precedent for fu- 
ture oppression ; and they instructed their agent, Dr. Frank- 
lin, to oppose whatever might affect the liberties of America, 
or the rights of the province ; and, more especially, any plan 
which might be proposed for an American representation in 
parliament.* 

The attention of Pennsylvania was now turned from griev- 
ances, common to her and the other colonies, to the consi- 
deration of injuries exclusively affecting herself. The first 
grants of lands in America, by the kings of Great Britain, 
were made with a lavishness which can exist only where 
acquisitions are without cost, and their value unknown; 
and with a want of precision in boundary, which could re- 
sult only from entire ignorance of the country. The char- 
ters of the great northern and southern Virginia companies, 
and of the colonies of the Massachusetts bay and Connecti- 
cut, were of this liberal and uncertain character. The char- 
ter of the Plymouth company covered the expanse from 
the fortieth to the forty-sixth degree of northern latitude, 
extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. That of 

* Votes. 



1770] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 459 

Connecticut, derived from the Plymouth company, and con- 
firmed by the crown in 1662, also covered the country from 
sea to sea. The maintainance of this extravagant extent 
of soil does not appear to have been contemplated by the 
early settlers of that colony; but, from the records of the 
New England provinces, there was evidently a disposition to 
preserve a right to a western boundary much more remote 
than now limits those states. But this disposition was un- 
settled and varying. In July, 1649, as we have seen, the 
commissioners of the united colonies of New England re- 
fused to sanction an application of the New Haven colony to 
make a settlement on the Delaware.* But in 1651, on the 
petition of certain persons, who alleged that they had pur- 
chased lands on the Delaware from the Indians, and had 
been prevented from settling thereon by the Dutch, the 
commissioners asserted the right to the Delaware lands, 
under the Connecticut patent, and purchases made by indi- 
viduals. They protested against the conduct of the Dutch, 
and assured the petitioners, that, though the season was not 
meet for hostilities, yet if within twelve months, at their 
own charge, they should transport to the Delaware one hun- 
dred armed men, with vessels and ammunition approved by 
the magistrates of New Haven, and should be opposed by 
the Dutch, that they should be assisted by as many soldiers 
as the commissioners should judge meet; the lands and trade 
of the settlement being charged with the expense, and con- 
tinuing under the government of New Haven. t 

Opposed to these vague assertions of right, are the esta- 
blishment of the western boundaries of Connecticut by treaty 
with the Dutch, and the final settlement of boundaries be- 
tween New England and New York, by commissioners under 
the crown, in 1664; antl the charters of New York, New 
Jersey, and Pennsylvania, under which those colonics were 
severally peopled, without objection or complaint from any 
one of the New England government;?. 

• Records of United Colonics. Trumbull. j 1 Col, N. Y. Hist. Soc. 

Haz. Col. 



460 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1770 

For these reasons, the claims of Connecticut to the country- 
west of the Delaware were unnoticed for more than a cen- 
tury. But they were now seriously agitated under the fol- 
lowing; circumstances. There was much vacant land on the 
Delaware and Susquehannah rivers of the first quality, which 
attracted occupants from various parts. Amongst others, the 
people of New England, who were becoming straitened for 
room at home, and began to display those migratory quali- 
ties for which they are now distinguished, grew covetous of 
a country flowing with milk and honey. Some of them 
who had set their faces westward in search of fortune, disre- 
garding the charter to Penn, alighted on these lands, and for 
a season remained undistinguished among other squatters. 
But they were soon possessed with the notion, that, under 
the cover of the Connecticut charter, they might claim these 
acquisitions, and avoid the payment of purchase-money and 
the burden of quit-rents. The Connecticut title was imme- 
diately asserted, and threats made to their neighbours, that a 
competent force should be sent from Connecticut to seize and 
settle the lands at Wyoming on the Susquehannah, and at 
Cushetunk on the Delaware, choice and valuable spots in this 
virgin country.* 

The governor of Pennsylvania, apprized of these inten- 
tions, immediately addressed himself to governor Wolcott 
and lieutenant-governor Fitch of Connecticut, asserting the 
exclusive title of the proprietaries to all lands within the 
bounds of their charter, protesting against the intrusions 
already made, and proposing that such portion of the Con- 
necticut people as was disposed to settle in the west, should 
locate themselves on the western border of the province, 
under Pennsylvania rights, or should seek a home in the 
western parts of Virginia. But these were savage and almost 
unexplored wilds, and a plan for wresting from Pennsylvania 
a large portion of her richest soil had been deeply laid and 
widely extended. Governor Wolcott and several members 
of the general court were parties to this design. But to 

• 1753. 



1770] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 461 

render it effective, it was necessary that the government of 
Pennsylvania should be deceived. Governor Wolcott, there- 
fore, hypocritically replied, that the lands of Connecticut 
being taken up, the inhabitants had turned to those at Wyo- 
ming, supposing them to lie north of the Pennsylvania line, 
and designed to purchase them from the Indians; but that, 
being now assured of their error, he would endeavour to turn 
their attention to the country mentioned by governor Hamil- 
ton. And the lieutenant-governor, the better to sustain this 
deception, gave assurances that "the project of settlement 
on the Susquehannah was a wild scheme, and would come 
to nothing." 

But Mr. Hamilton was well-instructed, that the contrivers 
of the plot had resolved to attempt to purchase from the Six 
nation Indians their right to the coveted lands, through co- 
lonel Johnson, and one Lydias of Albany; that a purse of one 
thousand dollars had been subscribed for this purpose, and 
that agents were about to depart to effect it. 

In July, 1754, the Six nations were convened at Albany, 
with the view of enlisting them, on the part of the English, 
against the French. Pennsylvania, and most of the other 
colonies, were represented at the congress then held. After 
the general business had been disposed of, the deputies of 
Pennsylvania entered into an open treaty with the Indians 
for a large portion of the soil yet unsold in that province, 
including the lands on which the Connecticut speculators 
had set their eyes, but who made no pretensions thereto 
before the Indian council, although Mr. Roger Wolcott and 
others, connected with them, were deputies from Connecticut 
to the congress. But after the adjournment of the Indian 
council, it is said, that the signature of some chiefs, during a 
fit of intoxication, were obtained to a deed purporting to con- 
vey to certain trustees a tract of land, "lying on the waters of 
the Susquehannah, about seventy miles north and south, and 
from about ten miles east of that river, and extending west- 
ward two degrees." 

Such a purchase could give no title. It was void by the 
laws of Connecticut, forbidding individuals to purchase from 



462 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1770 

the Indians; by the resolutions of the congress then convened 
at Albany, and by those of the Indians, adopted in their gene- 
ral council. The lands had already been sold by the Indians 
in 1736, and that sale enlarged and confirmed by a public 
deed whose seals were scarce dry. The Indian councils at 
all times afterwards denied the sale. They disclaimed it in 
January, 1755, and in November, 1758, at Philadelphia; and, 
in 1763, they sent a deputation to Connecticut, on learning 
that three hundred families proposed to settle these lands, to 
remonstrate against their intrusion, and to deny the alleged 
sale; and, in 1771, the Delawares and their derivative tribes 
also assured the proprietaries of Pennsylvania that they had 
never sold any right to the Connecticut claimants.* 

The purchase at Albany, whether real or pretended, ex- 
cited great interest among the speculative and adventurous 
population of Connecticut. An association was formed under 
the name of the " Susquehannah Company," consisting of 
several hundred share-holders, including Roger Wolcott, the 
late governor, and several members of the general court, and 
many distinguished inhabitants. A tract of near ten thousand 
square miles was to be divided in proportion to the shares 
holden, giving several square miies to each share; and many 
shares were subdivided: and as the cost of the shares did not 
exceed nine dollars each, it was in the power of any individual 
to obtain a right under the company for a valuable farm. 
Thus a large proportion of the population became interested, 
directly or indirectly, in the success of the company. The 
plan was founded in resolute fraud, and prosecuted by all 
means which might sustain it. By the articles of association 
each share-holder was bound by himself or substitute to make 
a settlement, build a house, and clear a certain quantity of land 
within a given time.t 

Soon after the purchase many settlers went on the lands, 
and many already there were seduced to buy, at a low rate, 
Connecticut titles. Governor Morris remonstrated with 
governor Fitch on the proceedigns of the company. The 

* Votes. Records. Penn. Gazette, 1763. \ reim. Rec. 



1770] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 45 J 

latter replied, (twenty-ninth November, 1754,) pretending 
great ignorance of the matter, and supposing that some of the 
subscribers might reside in his government, proposed to dis- 
courage them by publishing governor Morris's representa- 
tions. This answer was given whilst the company were 
openly and successfully labouring to obtain the aid of their 
government. In May following, the company, recommended 
by the assembly, applied to the king for a charter, forming 
them into a distinct commonwealth, confirming the purchase 
they had already made, and authorizing them to obtain new 
grants from the Indians. The efforts of Pennsylvania, and 
the justice of the crown, defeating this project, the company- 
sent out an agent (in 1762) to solicit an act of incorporation, 
but without success. Foiled in these attempts, they resolved 
to rely upon the letter of the Connecticut charter for protec- 
tion, and to strengthen themselves by sending out, from time 
to time, a number of pioneers, who sliould locate themselves 
in the neighbourhood of the Susquehannah, and be ready to 
avail themselves of such favourable circumstances as might 
happen. But, as Pennsylvania had not extinguished the 
Indian title over the best lands claimed by their company, 
and as the rottenness of the deed obtained in Albany in 1754 
was well known to the grantees, few settlements were made 
on such lands, avowedly under a Connecticut title. As this 
bold undertaking seemed to promise eventual success, it sti- 
mulated a cupidity that rarely required extraordinary excite- 
ment. Companies were formed in Connecticut, one for 
settling lands in Pennsylvania, on the Delaware, and others 
for obtaining and settling lands in the provinces of New York 
and New Jersey, under sanction of that magical charter which 
stretched over any countiy deemed desirable by its fortu- 
nate holders. In the latter province their machinations pro- 
duced a short-lived insurrection. 

In 1761 some Connecticut families seated themselves on 
the river Delaware, near CusheUink, in Northampton county, 
and in August, 1762, others seated themselves on the Sus- 
quehannah, about one mile above the town of Wyoming, in 
despite of the remonstrances of the sheriff and magistrates, 



464 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1770 

and of the Indian chief Teedyuscung. The government of 
Pennsylvania renewed its remonstrances; but a permanent 
footing was now thought to be obtained in that province, and 
governor Fitch replied that the assembly of Connecticut had 
acquiesced in the desire of the Susquehannah company to set- 
tle a colony on lands in Pennsylvania. Governor Hamilton 
issued proclamations against the intruders, but did not resort 
to more forcible measures. The policy of Pennsylvania was 
pacific, as the intruders well knew; and she relied on the 
justice of the king, who was now possessed of her grievances. 
Nor was this reliance vain. In October, 1763, his majes- 
ty directed that the contending colonies should each appoint 
a commissioner to proceed to the debatable lands, and pro- 
claim his commands, that the intruders should depart, and 
abandon their enterprise. Colonel James Burd was appoint- 
ed commissioner on behalf of Pennsylvania, and this procla- 
mation, together with incursions of the western Indians, who 
at this time laid waste the settlements at Wyoming, and 
killed about twenty of the whites, and many of the resident 
Indians, among whom was the chief Teedyuscung, who was 
burned in his cabin, caused a temporary suspension of the 
company's operations. 

In 176S the proprietaries of Pennsylvania extinguished, by 
purchase, the Indian title to the lands (inter alia) claimed by 
the Susquehannah company. Two proprietary manors were 
laid out at Wyoming, and forty or fifty families obtained 
leave from the governor to settle upon it. A lease for seven 
years was given of these manors to three of the principal set- 
tlers, viz. Charles Stewart, Amos Ogden, and John Jennings. 
And at the opening of the land office in April, 1769, several 
hundred applications were entered for lands, and many fami- 
lies prepared to settle in that vicinity. Relieved from the 
dangers of an Indian contest, and finding the most valuable 
lands on the Susquehannah about to be occupied, the Connec- 
ticut compan}^ convened the stockholders in January, 1769, 
and resolved, that notwithstanding the proclamation of the 
king, they would proceed to settle the lands on the Susque- 
hannah; that forty persons should immediately proceed to take 



1770] HISIOIIY OF I'KXNSYLVAMA. 465 

possession, and tliat two hundred more should follow in May; 
that five townships, of five miles square, should be laid out; 
three on the east, two on the west side of the river, which 
should be given to these pioneers, in addition to their com- 
mon shares, on condition that they took and held possession 
of them for five years, and should hold them under the com- 
pany only. 

Encouraged by these resolutions, several hundred men 
proceeded to the Susquehannah before the month of June, 
where they were joined by more than a hundred others, who 
had collected in Lancaster county. The settlers, under Penn- 
sylvania titles, erected a block-house for their protection. The 
intruders immediately built a fort on each side of the block- 
house, and cutoff its communication with the country, Jen- 
nings, who was sheriff of Northampton county, proposed a 
conference, and having received three of the Connecticut 
leaders into the block-house, arrested them, and conducted 
them to Easton, where they were imprisoned until sufficient 
bail for their appearance for trial was given. The civil power 
proved sufficient to reduce the intruders to temporary sub- 
mission. But, in the succeeding month of February, a cer- 
tain Lazarus Stewart, and Zebulon Butler, with many asso- 
ciates, re-entered these settlements, burning the houses, and 
destroying or carrying away the goods and cattle of the 
peaceable inhabitants. Governor Penn solicited general Gage 
for military aid to enforce the law, but the general, who did 
not think that the occasion justified this course, although at 
the solicitation of Thomas Penn, instructions had been sent him 
to that effect by the king,* refused. Again the sheriff dis- 
possessed the invaders, and Stewart was arrested on a charge 
of arson; but was released by his followers. A reward of 
fifty pounds being offered for his recaption, he was taken, and 
delivered to the sheriff of York county; from whose custody 
he escaped whilst on his way to Philadelphia for trial, not 
without suspicion of connivance by the sheriff's officers. 
But this bold insurgent, unavved by the terrors of the law, 

• T. Penn's letter to Gov. Hamilton 



466 HISTOUY OV PENNSYLVANIA. [1771 

re-assembled his associates, and once more wasted the devoted 
country. Upon the approach of the sheriff of Northampton, 
he retired to a fort, from whence he killed one Ogden, and 
wounded several others, during a parley held by his own in- 
vitation, and making his escape by night, he fled the province. 
The governor, at the instance of the assembly, now proclaim- 
ed a reward of three hundred pounds for his apprehension; 
and the harassed settlers, in full confidence that their chief 
persecutor would not dare to return, resumed their farms and 
their labours. Their prospect of peace was illusory. In 
July, Stewart and Butler, at the head of a hundred armed 
men, embodied, as they alleged, under the authorily of Con- 
necticut, renewed those scenes of violence which had before 
dispersed the inhabitants. A party of the latter, to the num- 
ber of eighty-two, men, women, and children, collected to- 
gether, under the direction of colonel Asher Clayton, cast 
themselves, with their effects, into a block-house, where they 
were besieged by the invaders. Captain Amos Ogden was 
sent to Philadelphia for assistance; new orders were despatch- 
ed to the sheriff to raise men, and Edward Shippen was sent 
from the city to his aid. But not more than forty men could 
be mustered; those of the inhabitants not in the Connecticut 
interest being fearful of the vengeance of the intruders. 

Butler now declared his intention to keep possession of the 
country at every hazard for the colony of Connecticut; but 
proposed to determine the right of the two provinces by com- 
bat, between thirty of his band, and a like number of Penn- 
sylvanians. Clayton urged in vain that the right could not 
be thus decided, and proposed an armistice until he could 
obtain instructions from his government, asserting the deter- 
mination of himself and his people to maintain their posses- 
sions until directed by the constituted authority to abandon 
them. The besiegers commenced a regular and steady fire of 
musketry upon the fort, which they continued for seventeen 
days, with little effect, one man only being killed, and seve- 
ral wounded; but the assailants suffered more severely. No 
impression having been made by the musketr)^, they attempt- 
ed to batter down the block-house with a wooden cannon, 



1771] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA, 467 

but this new species of artillery burst at the second discharge. 
In the mean time, thirty-two men, with provisions and am- 
munition, sent by the governor of Pennsylvania for the relief 
of the garrison, attempted to enter it, which they effected, 
with the loss of three men wounded, and the greater portion 
of the convoy. Clayton, however, in hopes that further efforts 
would be made to sustain him, held out, until compelled by 
famine to capitulate. 

On the fifteenth of August, articles of capitulation were 
signed between colonel Asher Clayton, Joseph Morris, and 
John Dick, commandants of the block-house, in behalf of the 
honourable, the proprietaries of Pennsylvania, and Zebulon 
Butler, Lazarus Stewart, and John Smith, in behalf of the 
colony of Connecticut, on the surrender of the fort to the 
latter; stipulating that twenty-three men might leave ti»e 
fort armed, and with the remainder, unarmed, might proceed 
unmolested to their respective habitations; that the men having 
families might abide on the debatable land for two weeks, and 
might remove their efi'ects without interruption; and that the 
sick and v/ounded might retain their nurses, and have liberty 
to send for a physician. Having thus possessed themselves 
of Wyoming, the Connecticut intruders strengthened them- 
selves, by collecting under their banner the dissolute and out- 
lawed, and fugitives from service, from every colony.* 

Governor John Penn having left the province for England, 
the executive duties of the government devolved on the coun- 
cil, of which Mr. James Hamilton was president. He laid be- 
fore the assembly, at their September sessions, a statement of 
the proceedings at Wyoming; but, as no legislative act could 
be passed in the absence of the governor, they postponed 
the consideration of the subject. But on the arrival of Mr, 
Richard Penn,t bearing the commission of lieutenant-governor, 
they appropriated money for the relief of the settlers who 
were expelled from their homes; and, the better to protect 
the remaining inhabitants on the Susquehannah, who were 
threatened by the intruders with violent ejection from llieir 

* Votes. t October 17. 



468 IIISTOHY OF VKNNSYI.VANIA. [1771 

farm?, they organized a new county, called Northumberland, 
from parts of the counties of Lancaster, Cumberland, Berks, 
Northampton, and Bedford, and enacted severe penalties 
against rioters, and persons engaged in tumultuous assem- 
blies.* 

Governor Penn transmitted to governor John Trumbull of 
Connecticut, an account of the proceedings at Wyoming. 
The latter, for himself and the general court, disavowed 
them, but asserted that the contested lands were within the 
chartered limits of the Connecticut colony. "The violence 
complained of," he said, "was no doubt committed by the 
claimants under the Susquehannah company, who alleged, 
that they were first attacked and ill-treated by the people of 
Pennsylvania, whilst they sought peaceable possession of their 
lands, by a title they were desirous to vindicate by due 
course of law." It was obvious, from this reply, that Con- 
necticut had resolved to support the pretensions of the Sus- 
quehannah company. She was encouraged in this design 
by the opinion of legal counsellors! in London, procured 
upon a very partial state of the case. The general court re- 
solved,+ "That this assembly, at this time, will assert their 
claim, and in some proper way support such claim, to those 
lands contained within the limits and boundaries of the char- 
ter of this colony, which are westward of the province of 
New York." At the same time, they appointed commis- 
sioners to treat with the proprietaries of Pennsylvania, with 
respect to their mutual boundaries, or to make a joint appli- 
cation to the crown for the appointment of commissioners for 
that purpose, and to adopt measures to preserve peace and 
good order among the inhabitants of the contested lands, 
until the boundaries of the two colonies should be settled.§ 

Governor Penn promptly and wisely rejected these over- 
tures. The title of the proprietaries could gain nothing by 
their admission that it was doubtful. The grant from the 
crown to William Penn was clear and precise in its limits, 

• Votes. 

t Messrs. Thurlow, Wedderburn, Jackson, and Dunning. 

♦ October, 1773. § Trumbull's Hist, of Conn. 



!77l] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 469 

and whether it had been lawfully made, could be determined 
only by the king in council. Such determination was an 
indispensable pre-requisite to any negotiation between the 
colonies. 

Upon the report of the Connecticut commissioners to their 
assembly, that body resolved to extend their jurisdiction to 
the settlers on the contested lands; and incorporated them as 
the town of Westmoreland of the county of Litchfield, with 
like privileges as other towns of their colony. This town, 
or township, was of a size which would now be deemed in- 
convenient, though not divided from the county to which it 
was appurtenant, by the colonies of New York and New Jer- 
sey. It is described as " beginning on the west side of De- 
laware river, at the banks of said river, extending westwardly 
fifteen miles from Wyoming, north and south, as the grant of 
the Connecticut colony extends." Zebulon Butler, who was 
appointed a justice of the peace of this township, summoned 
the inhabitants by proclamation to Wyoming, to choose town 
officers, according to the laws of Connecticut. A counter- 
proclamation was published by governor Penn in February, 
1774, forbidding the inhabitants to obey the commands of 
Butler, or any other person claiming under the colony of 
Connecticut. 

But even in Connecticut these presumptuous and iniquitous 
proceedings were severely reprehended. Committees from 
twenty-three towns convened at Middletown, condemned 
them as founded in injustice, and pregnant with mischief, 
and as having been obtained by the votes and influence of the 
proprietors in the Susquehannah company, who had procured 
seats in the assembly that they might promote their separate 
interests. The convention drew up a spirited remonstrance 
to the assembly, and directed it to be circulated through the 
country for signatures. But the justice of (he case they ad- 
vocated, was feeble before the deep rooted and widely rami- 
fied influence of the Susquehannah company. 

Thus encouraged, the claimants under that company pre- 
pared to extend their possessions in their township of West- 
moreland. In June, 1773, they attempted forcibly to expel 



470 HISTOliy OF PENNSYLVANIA. [iTfl 

the settlers under Pennsylvania grants from the west branch 
of the Susquehannah; but their purpose was defeated by the 
spirited opposition of these inhabitants. The attempt was 
renewed in May and September, 1775, with like effect, 
when the intruders supposed their antagonists to have been 
weakened by draughts for the continental forces. On the 
last occasion, Butler had under his orders three hundred men.* 

The contending colonies referred their claims to the king 
in council. But the eager disputes between Great Britain 
and the provinces, prevented their consideration. This feud 
threatened greatly to injure the union which was indispensa- 
ble to the success of the latter. The assembly of Pennsyl- 
vania, therefore, having learned the attempt made in Septem- 
ber by the intruders, directed their delegates in congress to 
represent the mischievous effects of these trespasses, and to 
solicit the influence of that body to preserve peace until the 
determination of the king should be known. Congress ap- 
pointed a committee, before whom the contending parties 
appeared; the settlers under the Pennsylvania title by a com- 
mittee selected by themselves, and the Connecticut claim- 
ants by the delegates in Congress from that colony. The 
latter proposed to establish a temporary line, prescribing the 
jurisdiction of the parties within the limits of Pennsylvania, 
by which Connecticut would obtain quiet possession of an 
extent of territory almost as large as Connecticut proper. 
The Pennsylvania settlers instantly rejected the proposition, 
and, despairing of justice from men who would venture to 
make it, they refused further negotiation until they should 
receive instructions from their provincial assembly. Upon 
the recommendation of their committee, congress adopted a 
resolution, requesting the assemblies of the two colonies to 
take speedy and effectual means to prevent hostilities between 
the rival claimants.! 

The assembly of Pennsylvania resorted to such measures 
as were due to their own dignity and the request of congress. 

* Votes. t -^l'"i- "1' t;ong- 4th Nov. 1775. ^'otcb of Peim. 



1771 J HISTOUY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 47 i 

They resolved to strengthen the hands of the executive pow- 
er, approved the resistance of their settlers against the several 
attempts of the intruders to dispossess them, and declared, 
that though such intruders having forcibly and violently ob- 
tained the lands they held, ought to surrender them, and wait 
for a proper and legal decision of their claims, yet the house 
would acquiesce in any plan recommended by congress, by 
which they might enjoy their present settlements until the 
controversy should be determined by the king, provided 
Connecticut would give assurances to abide by such determi- 
nation, and in the mean time to introduce no more settlers, 
nor resist the laws of Pennsylvania. If such assurances could 
not be obtained, the house expressed their determination to 
concur with the governor in any measures to support the pro- 
perty and just rights of the Pennsylvania claimants. 

As there was no disposition on the part of Connecticut to 
give the assurances required by Pennsylvania, governor Penn 
issued orders to the magistrates of Northumberland county, 
to enforce the laws against the intruders at Wyoming. Pro- 
cess was issued, and the sheriff proceeded towards that set- 
tlement with a body of near five hundred men.* On approach- 
ing it, he communicated to some of the settlers, who, under 
one of their leaders, met him in an amicable manner, his 
intention to arrest those designated in his warrants, and to 
refrain from offering violence to any one submitting to the 
laws. On attempting, however, to proceed further, he dis- 
covered that a pass before him was strongly fortified, and 
manned with a force exceeding his own, and he received 
from the enemy a volley which killed one, and dangerously 
wounded three others of his party. Thus checked upon one 
side of the river, he resolved to attempt a passage by the 
other, and, for the greater secrecy, to cross in the night. But 
his design was penetrated, and its execution prevented. 
When he had nearly reached the opposite shore, and whilst 
entangled in a margin of ice, too thin to bear the weight of a 

• Uecember, 17r5. 



472 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l772 

man, he was fired upon repeatedly from the bank, and com- 
pelled to retire, with one man mortally wounded. 

With this unsuccessful effort terminated the endeavours of 
the executive of Pennsylvania to expel, by force, her trouble- 
some inmates. They had become very numerous, and had 
extended themselves over a large tract of country, upon which 
they had planted and built with great success. Although 
their original possession was obtained by unjust and lawless 
violence, and was maintained under an impudent pretence of 
title, still that possession by the lapse of time was growing 
into right, to preserve which it was obvious, the possessors 
had resolved to devote their lives. Forcible ejection would 
therefore be followed with much bloodshed, and wide-ex- 
tended misery, which would tend greatly to weaken the 
efforts of the two colonies in the common cause against Great 
Britain. Pennsylvania therefore wisely forebore to assert 
her indisputable rights, and submitted to await a favourable 
opportunity, when justice might be done to her by an impar- 
tial umpire. After the revolution (1802) this vexatious con- 
troversy, so far as related to jurisdiction, was determined by 
commissioners appointed by the congress of the United 
States in favour of Pennsylvania; and a composition was sub- 
sequently made under the laws of Pennsylvania between the 
Pennsylvania and Connecticut settlers, as to their territorial 
rights. But a detailed history of these events belongs to 
future pages of our work. 

In consequence of the unfortunate dispute, the history of 
which we have just narrated, the christian Indians, under the 
care of the Moravian Indians, resolved to emigrate beyond 
the Ohio river. These people, who had been saved with 
great ditliculty from the vengeance of the Paxton zealots, had 
seated themselves at Wyalusing, about six miles north of 
Wyoming. They built a considerable village, containing, 
beside many huts and cabins, more than thirty good log 
houses, with shingled roofs and glazed windows, a church 
and school house, not inferior to many erected by wealthy 
farmers; and they also cleared and enclosed large tracts of 
upland and meadow. They made this settlement with the 



1773] HISTOUY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 473 

approbation of the proprietaries and the government in 1765; 
and when, in 1768, the Six nations sold to the former the 
country, including these improvements, the Moravian Indians 
obtained assurances from governor Penn, that neither their 
lands, nor any within five miles thereof, should be sold to 
others. Thus comfortably established and protected, as they 
supposed, from the intrusion of the whites, they anticipated 
a long season of repose and prosperity. But the tide of po- 
pulation flowed around them; the strife between the Connec- 
ticut and Pennsylvania claimants sounded in their ears, and 
they suffered perpetual anxiety from the visits of Indians of 
every tribe, on their journies to and from the northern na- 
tions. In the language of Brother Abo, of the Moravians, 
who represented their intentions to the assembly, " notwitli- 
standing their sincere and unshaken attacliment to the govern- 
ment of the province, as they were not expert at salving 
appearances, they could not but be afraid that their innocence 
and complexion would stand little chance against the suspi- 
cious insinuations and charges that are, or may be conceived, 
and laid against them, from the indifferent neighbourhood in 
whicli they lived. They thought it high time therefore that 
they should retire to some Indian country." 

The administration of Richard Penn, which commenced, 
as we have incidentally observed, in October, 1771, was ter- 
minated by the return of John Penn to the province and its 
government.* Great harmony prevailed between the former 
and the assembly. They differed in opinion on several occa-, 
sions, but their consequent discussions were temperate and 
decorous. The chief subject of dispute was a proposition on 
the part of the assembly to issue bills of credit to the value of 
two hundred thousand pounds. The governor objected to 
the amount, and some details of the proi)osed law; and both 
parties adhering to their respective views, the issue wns not 
made until the next assembly, reducing the sum to one hun- 
dred and fifty thousand dollars, and otherwise modifying their 
bill, it received his approbation. The attention of governor 



' Soplembcr, 1773. 
60 



474 HISTOllY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l774 

Richard Penn to the commercial interests of the city obtained 
for him, in a special manner, the affection of its mercantile 
inhabitants. The revocation of his commission was unex- 
pected to him and to them, and seems to have been much 
regretted by all, and by none more than himself. The mer- 
chants, after his removal from office, waited on him in a body, 
and presented him with an affectionate and respectful address. 
They also gave him a splendid public entertainment, at which 
governor John Penn, his council, the corporation of the city, 
the officers of the army and navy, and distinguished strangers, 
were guests. 

The peace of the province was also, this year, disturbed by 
alarms of Indian hostility, and a vexatious contest with the 
governor of Virginia, in relation to her western boundary. 
Both of these grievances are said to have originated in the 
malicious and heartless policy of lord Dunmore, who, in 
order to distract the attention of the large and wealthy pro- 
vinces of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and turn them from a 
close examination of the designs of the parent state, resolved 
to involve them in war with the savage, and sow doubts and 
disunion, which should disable the whites from resisting the 
inroads of their cruel enemy.* 

This design has too much horror and depravity to be lightly 
credited. Nor have we seen any evidence to sustain it. There 
was sufficientcause for Indian hostility in the injuries the tribes 
received from the unquenchable animosity of the border Eng- 
lish; and the want of temper, and defect of judgment, which 
distinguished the governor of Virginia, may, without seeking 
worse causes, be assigned as the sources of his untimely 
claims of jurisdiction over a large portion of Pennsylvania. 

In the spring of this year, a robbery was committed on 
certain land adventurers on the river Oliio. The whites in 
that quarter undertook to punish this outrage in their usual 
summary way. Captain Michael Crcsap, whose family was 
distinguished for their deeds and sufferings in Indian warfare, 
and a certain Daniel Greathouse, at the head of white parties, 

* Bulk's llisl. Mr. 



1774] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. " 475 

surprised at different times travelling and hunting parties of 
the Indians, whom they murdered indiscriminately, sparing 
neither women nor children. Among these fell the family 
of Logan, a chief renowned in peace and in war, and dis- 
tinguished as the friend of tlie whites. His vengeance was 
commensurate with his misfortunes, his talents, and his for- 
mer love of the English, all of which he has portrayed in a 
speech, whose force, beauty, and eloquence, has elevated his 
race, and is not surpassed in any nation.* 

As soon as these unfortunate events were known to the 
government of Pennsylvania, messengers were despatched 
to assure the Indians that they were unsanctioned by the pub- 
lic authorities of the provinces. This message averted their 
anger from the inhabitants of Pennsylvania; the Indians not 
only refrained from actual violence, but they escorted her 
traders to Pittsburg, at the risk of an attack from their young 
and heated warriors. 

In the garrison at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania had had a bri- 
dle on the western Indians. But, in despite of the repre- 
sentations of the traders and inhabitants of Pittsburg, and 
the recommendations of the governor, the troops were with- 
drawn early In the last year, by order of general Gage, 
and the assembly refused to supply their place. After the 
late outrages, one Connolly, a man of some talent, but of lax 
morals, who had received much notice from lord Dunmore, 
and was clothed by him with considerable powers as a ma- 
gistrate, and as a commissioner among the Indians, by the 
orders of his lordship^ took possession of the fort, under pre- 
tence that It was within the Virginia boundary; whence he 
despatched a party to attack the very Indians who had re- 
stored the traders In safety to their friends. But the spirit 
of vengeance did not slumber; It solaced itself in the mas- 
sacre of many Virginians on the west of the Monongahela 
river. 

Lord Dunmore had previously visited the country west of 
the Allegheny, had Invited and encouraged settlers to take 

* JefTerson's Notes. I^ogan's speech. Hurk, 



476 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1774 

warrants from him for lands within the Pennsylvania boun- 
dary, and had succeeded, by the agency of Connolly, in se- 
ducing several hundred of the inhabitants who were seated 
without any title, to disclaim the authority of that province, 
and to solicit to be admitted under his government. He sub- 
sequently published a proclamation, declaring that the counti'y 
west of the Allegheny mountains had, from its rapid settle- 
ment, became important to his majesty's interest; that the 
province of Pennsylvania had unduly claimed a valuable and 
extensive quantity of his majestj^'s territory; that the exe- 
cutive authority of that province had abused the laudable ad- 
venturers in that part of his majesty's dominions, by many 
oppressive and illegal measures, in discharge of their imaginary 
authority; and that the ancient claim laid to that country by 
the colony of Virginia, founded in reason, on pre-occupancy, 
and the general acquiescence of all persons, together with 
the instructions he had lately received from his majesty to 
take that country under his administration, required him to 
command all his majesty's subjects west of the Laurel hill 
to pay due respect to his proclamation, strictly prohibiting 
the execution of any act of authority on behalf of Pennsyl- 
vania.* 

Governor Penn, under these circumstances, acted with 
promptitude and prudence. Upon the news of theretaliatoj^ 
measures of the Indians, tlie Pennsylvania outsettlers fled 
with their families to the interior; and the panic became so 
general, that a great part of the western frontier was deserted. 
It was stayed by the activity of the magistrates of the count}'^ 
of Westmoreland, who, with the concurrence of the gover- 
nor, raised and armed a number of rangers, and placed them 
in proper places to protect the inhabitants in case of an attack. 
The governor solicited and obtained the happy influence of 
sir William Johnson with the Six nations, to assist in healing 
the breach with their western brethren: he remonstrated with 
lord Dunmore on the misconduct of Connolly, and caused 
that insidious agent to be arrested and imprisoned, and the 

* Penn. Gaz. 



1774] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 477 

settlers under the Virginia title to be punished as vagrants 
and outlaws: he replied to lord Dunmore's proclamation by 
a counter-proclamation,* requiring all persons west of the 
Laurel hill, deriving title to lands from the proprietaries of 
Pennsylvania, to maintain their settlements, and pay obe- 
dience to the laws of Pennsylvania, regardless of the Vir- 
ginia proclamation:! and he invoked the assistance of his 
assembly. But he despatched Messrs, James Tilghman and 
Andrew Allen, members of council, to Williamsburg, to re- 
monstrate with lord Dunmore, and to urge him to refer the 
subject for the king's decision. But this was refused, as be- 
neath his lordship's dignity, and, as historians assert, incon- 
sistent with his purpose. 

If, by his measures, lord Dunmore proposed to involve 
Pennsylvania and Virginia.in a civil war, he should have 
been assured of the support of his council. But that body, 
well instructed in the nature of the question relative to the 
boundaries of the two colonies, declined to give their assent 
for levying troops, for enforcing the asserted rights of Vir- 
ginia, and moderately but firmly remonstrated with the go- 
vernor of Pennsylvania, and demanded the release of their 
citizens, and the submission of their disputes to his majesty.^ 

The assembly of Pennsylvania having convened, § pursuant 
to the governor's call, resolved to take the Westmoreland 
rangers into pay until September, should it be necessary to 
retain them so long. One hundred of them were kept under 
arms until November, when they were disbanded — the fears 
of Indian inroads in Pennsylvania having subsided. 

In Virginia, the Indian war was marked with its accus- 
tomed atrocity. But it was sustained and repelled by the 
whites with unwonted spirit. An army of three thousand 
men was raised with alacrity; and two divisions, the one 
commanded by the governor in person, the other by colonel 
Andrew Lewis, marched into the country of the enemy, with 
the design of administering a severe chastisement, in the de- 
struction of his crops and villages. The smaller force, about 

* 12th Oct. 1774. f Votes. I'cnn. Gaz. Rurk. Penn. Ucc. 

+ Burk. ^ July 18tli. 



478 . HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1774 

fifteen hundred men, under colonel Lewis, encountered the 
enemy with the like number at the confluence of the Great 
Kanhaway river and the Ohio. The field was hotly contested 
during the whole day, but was finally abandoned by the In- 
dians; and a few days after, colonel Lewis was stopped in 
the vengeful labour of destroying the Shawanese towns, by 
an express from the governor, informing him that peace had 
been granted to the enemy, on condition that their lands on 
the east side of the Ohio should be for ever ceded to the 
whites, that their prisoners should be restored, and that hos- 
tages should be given for the faithful performance of the 
treaty.* 

At the first meeting of the assembly of Pennsylvania after 
the election of this year, Edward Biddle of Berks county was 
unanimously elected speaker. Mr. Galloway had filled this re- 
spectable station for many years, having succeeded Mr. Norris. 
Mr. Biddle had long represented Berks county, and enjoyed 
the confidence of the house in an eminent degree, being placed 
upon the most important committees, and taking an active 
part in all current business. 

In April of this year, Benjamin Chew was commissioned 
chief justice, and John Lawrence, Thomas Willing, and John 
Morton, puisne judges of the supreme court. 

* Rurk. 



CHAPTER XX, 

Political quiet of the colonies again broken'«"India company 
encouraged to make shipments of tea- •••Means adopted to 
excite opposition in the colonies* •••Resolutions of the as- 
sembly of Pennsylvania""Agents appointed for the sale of 
the tea compelled to resign ■•••Proceedings in the colonies 
on the arrival of the tea shipS'-^-Committees of correspond- 
ence- •••Indignation of the king and ministry ••••Ministerial 
vengeance on Massachusetts — Boston port act^^^ •Subver- 
sion of the Massachusetts charter^^^^Law for the trial of 
offences committed in the colonies^^-'Canada act, its charac- 
ter and effect- •••Spirited conduct of the Bostonians^-- •Sym- 
pathy of the colonies with Massachusetts^^^^Prudent policy 
of Pennsylvania — Town meeting* •••Provincial convention 
in Pennsylvania^^^^Resolutions thereof---^Frames instruc- 
tions for the assembly •••Proceedings of the assembly** 
Delegates to congress^^^^Their instructions-'^^Meeting of 
congress at Philadelphia^^^^Proceedings-^^^Resolutions re- 
lative to non-intercourse Declaration of rights Ad- 
dresses to the king, to the inhabitants of Great Britain, and 
continental America^^^ •Dissolution of congress- ---Assembly 
of Pennsylvania approves of the proceedings of congress^-** 
Appoints delegate's to anew congress^^^^Mr. Galloway de- 
clines the appointment of delegate^^^*His opposition to the 
proceedings of congress — Governor Penn attempts to per- 
suade the assembly to send a separate address to the king 
•••*Reply of the assembly-*^^Effect of the proceedings of 
congress in England^^* -Ministry determine to enforce sub- 
mission'^'^Massachusetts declared in rebellion^^^^Concilia- 
tory proposition of lord North^^^-Rejected in thecolonies**** 
Supported by governor Penn****Rcsolutions thereon of the 
assembly of Pennsylvania- •--Second convention at Philadel- 
phia****Proceedings****Rccommend the encouragement of 



480 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1774 

manulactures'" ►Empower the committee of correspondence 
to re-assemble the convention- •••Committee of correspond- 
ence adopts measures of defencc'^'^Military association 
formed- •••Assembly provides a military on the recommen- 
dation of congrcss^^^-Difficulties arising from the scruples 
of the Quakers in bearing arms- ---Their conduct, in reliev- 
ing the sufierers in New England-^^^Quakers claim exemp- 
tion from bearing arms-- -Remonstrances against their claim 
• •••Militia system adopted by the assembly. 

We have already observed that a slate of political quiet 
throughout the colonics had been induced l)y the prudence 
of the European and American parties: the one forbearing 
to ship, and the other to order ten, subjected to duty. This 
state, after near three years' continuance, was terminated by 
the most painful and irritating jealousies, awakened by the 
impolitic avarice of the British ministry. 

The East India company, the boldest, most ambitious, and 
most successful of commercial associations, had become em- 
barrassed by lavish expenditure on their territorial acquisi- 
tions, the peculation of their servants, and by the diminution 
of their trade, in consequence of the American quarrel. They 
applied to government for assistance, and proposed that the 
duty of three pence per pound, payable on teas imported into 
the colonies, should be abolished, and that six pence per pound 
should be retained on the exportation. This favourable and 
honourable mode of removing the causes of the dispute be- 
tween Great Britain and the provinces, was rejected by the 
ministry, who proposed and carried a hill, authorizing the 
company to export their teas altogether free of duty. Lord 
North, says the English historian,* recommended this mea- 
sure to parliament witii a two-fold view; to relieve the India 
company, and to improve the revenue. The latter was to be 
accomplished by tempting the Americans to purchase tea in 
large quantities, by selling at a low price. But the company 
was reUiclant to sliip to the colonies u\-ion its own account; 

* r.isset, Sec. 



1774] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 481 

nor would they venture until assured that in no event they 
should suffer loss, t 

The export of tea to America under these circumstances 
was in itself sufficient to arouse opposition. Beside, the oc- 
casion was eagerly seized by those whose interest would be 
most promoted by popular resistance. Merchants in England, 
whose profits were endangered by this operation of the India 
company, cis-atlantic smugglers, whose trade was threatened 
with extinction, laboured with the patriot to convince the 
people of the imtuutable determination of the parent state to 
establish her claim to tax the colonies, and for that purpose 
to compel the sale of the tea in despite of the solemn resolu- 
tions, and often declared sense of the inhabitants. The cry 
of endangered liberty was again heard from New Hampshire 
to Georgia. Town meetings were held in the capitals of the 
different provinces, and combinations formed to obstruct the 
sale of the tea. The consignees of the company were gene- 
rally compelled to relinquish their appointments, and substi- 
tutes could not be procured. 

The conduct of the Pennsylvanians was prompt, bold; yet 
temperate. At a meeting of the inhabitants of Philadelphia, 
held on the eighteenth of October, 1773, it was resolved, 

" That the disposal of their own property is the inherent 
right of freemen: that there can be no property in that which 
another can, of right, take from us without our consent: that 
the claim of parliament to tax America, is, in other words, a 
right to levy contributions on us at pleasure: 

" That the duty imposed by parliament on tea, landed in 
America, is a tax on the Americans, or levying contributions 
on them without their consent: 

" That the express purpose for which the tax is levied on the 
Americans, namely, for the support of governmept, adminis- 
tration of justice, and defence of his majesty's dominions in 
America, has a direct tendency to render assemblies useless, 
and to introduce arbitrary government and slavery: 

" That a virtuous and steady opposition to this ministerial 
plan of governing America, is absolutely necessary to pre- 
serve even the shadow of liberty, and is a duty which every 
Gl 



482 HISTORY OF Pr.NNSYI.VAMA. [1774 

freeman in Ameiica owes to his country, to himself, and to 
his posterity: 

" That the resolution lately entered into by the East India 
company to send out their tea to America, subject to the pay- 
ment of duties on its being landed here, is an open attempt 
to enforce this ministerial plan, and a violent attack on the 
liberties of America: 

'' That it is the duty of every American to oppose this at- 
tempt: 

*'That whoever shall directly, or indirectly, countenance 
this attempt, or in anywise aid or abet, in unloading, receiv- 
ing, or vending the tea sent, or to be sent out, by the East 
India company, while it remains subject to the payment of a 
duty here, is an enemy to his country: 

" That a committee be immediately chosen to wait on those 
gentlemen, who, it is reported, are appointed by the East In- 
dia company, to receive and sell said tea, and request them, 
from a regard to their own characters, and the peace and good 
order of the city and province, immediately to resign their 
appointment." . 

The agents of the India company, then resident in the city, 
some of them cheerfully, others reluctantly, complied with 
the requests of the town meeting; and Mr. Gilbert Barclay, 
who arrived with the first tea ship, renounced his commission 
before a town meeting, to which he was brought for that 
purpose. 

On the approach of the tea ships destined for Philadelphia, 
the pilots in the river Delaware were warned not to conduct 
them into harbour; and their captains, apprized of the fore- 
going resolutions, deeming it unsafe to land their cargoes, 
consented to return without making an entry at the custom 
house; the owners of goods, ordered from England, on board 
these vessels, cheerfully submitting to the inconvenience of 
having their merchandise returned to Great Britain. The 
captains of vessels addressed to New York wisely adopted 
the same resolution. The tea sent to Charleston was landed 
and stored, but not offered for sale; and having been placed 
in damp cellars, became rotten, and was entirely lost. The 



1774] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 483 

ships designed for Boston entered that port, and the energy 
of governor Hutchinson prevented their return; but before the 
tea could be landed, a number of colonists, pursuant tea con- 
certed plan, dressed as Indians, entered the vessels, and, with- 
out doing other damage, broke open three hundred and forty- 
two chests of tea, and emptied their contents into the water. 
Such was the union of sentiment among the people, and so 
systematic their opposition, that not a single chest of the car- 
goes sent out by the East India company was sold for its 
benefit. 

This unanimity was effected by the instrumentality of com- 
mittees of correspondence, appointed by the several provin- 
cial legislatures, whose special duty was to obtain the most 
early and authentic intelligence of such acts of parliament, and 
proceedings of the ministry, as might affect the colonies, and 
to maintain a correspondence with the sister provinces on 
these important subjects. The plan was originally proposed, 
and the first committee appointed by Virginia on the twelfth 
of March, 1773, but it was adopted by Massachusetts, Con- 
necticut, and Rhode Island before September. In that montli 
all these colonies communicated t!^eir proceedings to the 
legislature of Pennsylvania a few days before its dissolution 
by charter. The appointment of a committee of correspond- 
ence was therefore referred to the next assembly, by whom 
the duties uf such a committee was imposed on the standing 
committee of correspondence of the house, consisting of 
Messrs. Samuel Miles, Thomas Mifflin, William Rodman, 
Isaac Pearson, and John Morton.* 

The conduct of the colonists generally in relation to the 
tea ships, and especially the daring trespass at Boston, gave 
great umbrage to the king. In his messaget to parliament 
he characterized the colonial proceedings as obstructing the 
commerce of Great Britain, and subversive of her constitu- 
tion. High and general indignation was excited in thatbodv- 
His njajesty's measures were almost unanimously ajjproved, 
and pledges were given to secure the due execution of the 

* Votes. f 7th TSiavch, ]77A. . 



48'4 HISTOJIY OK PENNSYLVANIA. [ 1 774 

laws, and the dependence of the colonies. To maintain this 
dependence, the whole nation seemed disposed to approve and 
support the severest measures of the ministry. All conside- 
ration for the just rights of the colonists was lost in the desire 
to punish their audacity; and, for the moment, the patriot 
forgot his principles, and the merchant his interest, whilst 
fired with indignation at the bold resistance to the will of the 
parent state. 

Upon Massachusetts the vials of wrath were first poured 
out. Before the magnitude of her guilt the offences of other 
colonies became insignificant. By one act of parliament the 
port of Boston was closed, and the custom house and its de- 
pendencies t-ransferred to the town of Salem, until compensa- 
tion should be made to the East India company, and until the 
king in council should be satisfied of the restoration of peace 
and good order in the town of Boston: By another act of 
parliament the charter of Massachusetts was subverted; the 
nomination of counsellors, magistrates, and other officers be- 
ing vested in the crown during the royal pleasure: By a 
third, persons indicted in that province for any capital offence, 
if an allegation were made on oath to the governor that such 
ofience had been committed, in aid of the magistracy in the 
suppression of riots, and that a fair trial could not be had in 
the province, might be sent to any other colony, or to Great 
Britain, for trial. A bill was also passed for quartering sol- 
diers upon the inhabitants. But these penal bills did not 
pass wholly unopposed in either house of parliament, and in 
the lords the minority entered their protest against each. 

An act passed simultaneously with the foregoing, making 
more effectual provision for the government of the province 
of Quebec, excited as mucii indignation and more dread among 
the colonies, than the severe measures against Massachusetts. 
The latter might be palliated as the result of indignation, 
violent, but not causeless; while the former, vesting the legis- 
lative power in a council dependent on the crown, and sub- 
jecting the whole revenue to the king's disposal, bore strong 
indications of the resolution of the ministry to take from the 
colonies generally the right of self-government. Had sym- 



1774] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 485 

pathy failed to unite the other provinces to the fate of Massa- 
chusetts, regard to their common safety, so openly threatened, 
would have rendered their union indissoluble. Both were 
intensely felt. 

The inhabitants of Boston had foreseen the present crisis, 
and they met it with undaunted spirit. Information of the 
passage of the port act was received on the tenth of May, and 
on the thirteenth, the town resolved, " that, if the other 
colonies would unite with them to stop all importations from 
Great Britain and the West Indies until that act should be 
repealed, it would prove the salvation of North America and 
her liberties; but should they continue their exports and im- 
ports, there was reason to fear that fraud, power, and the 
most odious oppression would triumph over justice, right, 
social happiness, and freedom." A copy of this resolution 
was transmitted to the other colonies, the inhabitants of which, 
expressed deep sympathy in the sufferings of their brethren 
in Boston, endured in the common cause; and concurring in 
opinion with them on the propriety of convening a provin- 
cial congress, delegates for that purpose were generally 
chosen. 

Throughout the continent, the first of June, the day on 
which the Boston port act was to take effect, on the resolu- 
tion of the assembly of Virginia, was adopted as a day of 
fasting, humiliation, and prayer, to implore the divine inter- 
position to avert the heavy calamity which threatened de- 
struction to their civil rights, and the evils of civil war, and 
to give one heart and one mind to the people, firmly to op- 
pose every invasion of their liberties. 

In Philadelphia a meeting was held of the inhabitants of 
most religious denominations, who resolved unanimously, that 
it would be proper to express their sympathy for their bre- 
thren at Boston, by suspending all business on the first day 
of June. In the proceedings of this meeting, published in 
the newspapers, it was asserted that all the societies in the 
city were represented. But the Quakers did not participate 
in it; and to prevent the inference which might be drawn 
from such publication, the elders of the Friends' Society, 



486 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1774 

publicly declared, " that, though sympathizing with the dis- 
tressed, and justly sensible of the value of their religious and 
civil rights, and that it was their duty to assert them in a 
christian spirit, yet no one was authorized to represent them 
at such meeting; and that, if any of their community had 
countenanced that measure, they had manifested great inat- 
tention to their religious principles and professions, and acted 
contrary to the rules of christian discipline, established for 
the preservation of order and good government among 
them.*t 

The countenance and support of the great and populous 
colony of Pennsylvania was much desired by the Bostonians. 
Entire confidence might be placed in a part of the people, 
but there were many doubts and fears of the proprietaries, 
and their dependents, who might lose much, but could gain 
nothing by a change in the state, and of the Quakers, who 
shrunk from measures which might lead to hostilities between 
Great Britain and her colonies. The citizens of Boston there- 
fore despatched with their public communication private 
letters to individuals of known patriotism and influence, 
urging the impossibility of their standing alone against minis- 
terial vengeance, and the indispensable necessity of their 
being sustained by Pennsylvania, 

The advocates of provincial rights in Philadelphia, sensible 
of the necessity of proceeding with prudence and caution, 
resolved at their first assemblage on nothing more than to 
call a general meeting of the inhabitants for the ensuing even- 
ing. At the second meeting, they contented themselves with 
taking the sense of the people on the propriety of sending 
an answer to the public letter from Boston. J The meeting 
was addressed by the Rev. Dr. William. Smith, provost of the 
university, who strove to impress on the people the importance 
of the occasion on which they had met, and the necessity of 
prudence and deliberation. " Upon your deliberations of this 

* Penn. Giizette. 

f Tiiis declaration was .signed by .lolm Reynolds, .Taincs I'cmbcrton, and 
Samuel Noble. 
t 20111 May. 



1774] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 487 

day," added he, "depend matters of the highest consequence, 
not only to the happiness of this province, but of all British 
America. You, perhaps, are now to determine whether the 
breach with the country from which we are descended, shall 
be irreparably widened, or whether it may not yet be closed 
by constitutional means, and that harmony yet restored, from 
which, in our better days, Great Britain and her colonies de- 
rived mutual strength and glory; which rendered them in 
peace and in war the envy and terror of the neighbouring 
nations. When entering on such a subject, we should cast 
far from us every thing that may inflame and mislead the 
passions. A cause of such magnitude is not to be conducted 
to its proper issue by heated or hasty resolves, by bitter 
animosities among ourselves, or even by severe recapitulation 
of past grievances. It requires the temperate and enlight- 
ened zeal of the patriot, the prudence and experience of the 
aged, and the strength and vigour of the prime of life; in a 
word, the united wisdom and force of all, exercised under 
the dictates of reason and the piinciples of the constitution. 
Let no party distinctions operate here; they will but give 
cause of triumph to those who are watchful and powerful to 
abridge our native rights. Let there be no contention, save 
who shall be firmest and foremost in the common cause. 
Every man's sentiments should be freely heard, and without 
prejudice. Whilst we contend for liberty with others, let us 
not refuse liberty to each other. 

"Whatever resolution shall be now unanimously adopted, 
after full deliberation, by this great city and county, will be 
respected, not only throughout all America, but will have 
such weight as the proudest minister in England may have 
reason to respect. But should our determination be made by 
a divided vote, or be hastily adopted on an angry day, it will 
serve only to injure our cause. 

" I have it in charge to request you, that, if on any point 
there be a difference of sentiment amongst us, every man may 
be at liberty to speak freely and uninterruptedly, and without 
outward marks from the audience of favour or offence; and, 
if a division be necessary, (which it is hoped will not be the 



488 HISTORY OK PENNSYLVANIA. [1774 

case this day,) that it may be made in the manner desired 
by the chairman, with all possible order and decorum." 

By the answer to the public letter from Boston, which was 
unanimously adopted, the people of Philadelphia " acknow- 
ledged the difBculty of offering advice on the present occa- 
sion, sympathized with the people of Boston in their distress, 
and recommended that all lenient measures for their relief 
should be first tried; that if making restitution for the tea 
destroyed, would determine the unhappy controversy, and 
leave the people of Boston on their ancient footing of consti- 
tutional liberty, no doubt could be entertained of the part 
they should act; but the indefeasible right of granting their 
own money, and not the value of the tea, was the matter in 
consideration. That," they said, " was the common cause 
of America; and, therefore, it was necessary that a congress 
of deputies from the several colonies should be convened, to 
devise means for restoring harmony between Great Britain 
and the colonies, and preventing matters from coming to ex- 
tremities. Until this could be done, they recommended firm- 
ness, prudence, and moderation, to the immediate sufferers, 
assuring them, that the people of Pennsylvania would con- 
tinue firmly to adhere to the cause of American liberty."* 

But the leaders of the Pennsylvania patriots, though pru- 
dently cautious in their proceeding, had resolved to jeopard 
life and fortune, rather than hold them by the will of despotic 
power. To resist ministerial oppression effectively, it was 
obviously necessary that they should have the active support 
of the whole province, and to this object they earnestly ad- 
dressed themselves. The press, the ablest auxiliary of free- 
dom, was successfully resorted to. Every newspaper teemed 
with dissertations in favour of liberty ; the debates of parlia- 
ment, especially the speeches of the favourers of America, 
and the protests of the dissenting lords, were every where 
published. An application was made to the governor to 
convene the assembly, which, as the patriots expected, was 
refused ; but the refusal afforded them a plausible pretext for 

* Penn. (jaz. 



1774] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 489 

calling another meeting of the people. This meeting, con- 
sisting of near eight thousand,* of which Thomas Willing 
and John Dickenson were chairmen, resolved; that the Bos- 
ton port act was unconstitutional; that it was expedient to 
convene a continental congress ; to appoint a committee of 
the city and county of Philadelphia to correspond with the 
several counties of the province, and with the other colonies; 
and that such committee should be empowered to determine 
on the best mode for collecting the sense of the province, in 
the appointment of deputies to a general congress, and to set 
on foot a subscription for the relief of the sufferers by the 
Boston port bill.t 

The committee immediately addressed a circular to all 
the counties of the province, requesting the appointment 
of deputies to a general conference, proposed to be holden at 
Philadelphia on the fifteenth of July. "We will not," said 
they, in this letter, "offer such an affront to the well-known 
public spirit of Pennsyivanians, as to question your zeal on 
the present occasion. Our very existence in the rank of free- 
men, and the security of all that ought to be dear to us, evi- 
dently depends on our conducting this great cause to its 
proper issue, by firmness, wisdom, and magnanimity. It is 
with pleasure that we assure you, that all the colonies, from 
South Carolina to New Hampshire, are animated with one 
spirit in the common cause, and consider this as the proper 
crisis for having our differences with the mother country 
brought to some certain issue, and our liberties fixed upon a 

• June 18, 

f Committee; — John Dickenson, Edward Pennington, John Nixon, Tho- 
mas Willing, George Clymer, Samuel Howell, Joseph Reed, John Roberts, 
Thomas Wharton jr., Charles Thompson, Jacob Barge, Thomas Barclay, 
William Rush, Robert Smith, (carpenter,) Thomas Fitzsimmons, George 
Roberts, Samuel Ewen, Thomas Mifflin, John Cox, George Gray, Robert 
Morris, Samuel Miles, John M. Nesbitt, Peter Chevallier, William Moulder, 
Joseph Moulder, Anthony Morris, John Allen, Jeremiah Warder, jr.. Rev. 
Dr. William Smith, Paul Englc, Thomas Penrose, James Mease, Benjamin 
Marshall, Reuben Haines, John Bayard, Jonathan B. Smith, Thomas Whar- 
ton, Isaac Howell, Michael Hillcgas, Adam Hulty, George Schlosser, and 
Christian Ludwick. 
6Q 



490 lUSTOUY OF I'ENNSYLVANIA. [1774 

permanent foundation. This desirable end can only be ac- 
complished by a free communication of sentiments, and a 
sincere and fervent regard for the interests of our common 
country."* The committee also requested the speaker of 
the assembly to summon its members to meet on the first of 
August, to consult on the public affairs. He assented to their 
request, but his call was rendered unnecessary, the governor 
summoning the house to consider the relations with the In- 
dians.t This appeal to the patriotism of the country inha- 
bitants was promptly answered. Deputies to the conference 
were elected by the several counties, who assembled at Phila- 
delphia at the appointed time. Thus, without delay, tumult, 
or divided councils, the province was brought into action 
with its whole weight and influence. 

The convention, composed of citizens distinguished for 
morals, intelligence, and wealth, chose Mr. Thomas Willing 
for their chairman, and Mr. Charles Thompson secretary, 
and adopted the following resolutions; — that they owed alle- 
giance to George the third — that unconstitutional indepen- 
dence on the parent state was abhorrent to their principles — 
that they ardently desired the restoration of their ancient 
harmony with the mother country, on the principles of the 
constitution, and an interchange of good offices without in- 
fraction of their mutual rights — that the inhabitants of the 
colonies were entitled to the same rights and liberties within 
the colonies, that subjects born in England were entitled to 
within that realm — that the power assumed by parliament, to 
bind the colonists " by statutes, in all cases whatever," was 
unconstitutional, and therefore the source of the prevailing 
unhappy differences — that the late acts of parliament affecting 
the province of Massachusetts were unconstitutional, oppres- 
sive, and dangerous — that there was an absolute necessity 
that a colonial congress should be immediately assembled, to 
form a general plan of conduct for the colonies, in procuring 
relief for their suffering brethren, obtaining redress for their 
grievances, preventing future dissentions, firmly establishing 

* Ramsay. Penn. Gazette. f Tenn. Gazette. 



177-i] msTuKY UK PENNSYLVANIA. 491 

their rights, and restoring harmony between Great Britain 
and her colonies on a constitutional foundation — that, although 
a suspension of the commerce of the province with Great 
Britain would greatly distress multitudes of the inhabitants, 
yet they were ready to make that and a much greater sacri- 
fice for the preservation of their liberties; but, in tenderness 
to the people of Great Britain, as well as of America, and 
in hopes that their just remonstrances would at length reach 
the ears of their sovereign, and be no longer treated with 
contempt, by any of their fellow subjects in England, it was 
their earnest desire that congress should first try the gentler 
mode of stating their grievances, and making a firm and de- 
cent claim of redress — that yet, notwithstanding, as unanimity 
of counsels and measures was indispensably necessary for the 
common welfare, if congress should judge agreements of non- 
importation and non-exportation expedient, the people of 
Pennsylvania would join with the other principal and neigh- 
bouring colonies in such an association for that purpose as 
should be agreed upon by congress — that if any proceedings 
of parliament, of which notice should be received before, or 
at, the general congress, should render it necessary, in the 
opinion of that congress, for the colonies to take further steps 
than are mentioned in the preceding resolution, that the peo- 
ple of Pennsylvania would adopt such further steps, and do 
all in their power to carry them into execution — that the 
venders of merchandize within the province ought not to 
take advantage of the resolutions relative to non-importation, 
but should sell at the rates accustomed for three months then 
past — that the people of the province would break off all 
trade with any colony, town, city, or individual, on the 
American continent, which should refuse, decline, or neglect 
to adopt and carry into execution such general plan as should 
be agreed upon in congress — and that it was the duty of every 
member of the committee to promote to the utmost of his 
power, the subscription set on foot in the several counties of 
the province for the relief of the distressed inhabitants of 
Boston. 



492 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l77'4 

This convention conceiving itself to be a special represen- 
tation of the inhabitants of the province, claimed and exercised 
the right to instruct the assembly, then about to meet, in the 
course proper for them to pursue, and adopted the following 
resolution: 

*< That this committee give instructions on the present 
situation of public affairs to their representatives, who are 
to meet next week in assembly, and request them to appoint 
a proper number of persons to attend a congress of deputies 
from the several colonies, at such time and place as may be 
agreed on, to effect one general plan of conduct for obtaining 
the great and important ends mentioned in the preceding re- 
solutions." 

These instructions were drafted by Mr. John Dickenson, 
and are highly valuable, containing a full view of the political 
relations, which, in the opinion of the convention, ought to 
subsist between the parent state and the colonies, and the 
terms on which they were willing to relinquish their opposi- 
tion. "They acknowledged," they said, " the prerogatives 
of the sovereign, among which they included the great pow- 
ers of making peace and war, treaties, leagues, and alliances 
binding us; of appointing all officers, except in cases where 
other provision is made, by grants frq.m the crown, or laws 
approved by the crown ; of confirming or annulling every act 
of our assembly within the allowed time, and of hearing and 
determining finally, in council, appeals from our courts of 
justice." "These prerogatives were limited by certain and 
notorious bounds; but it was their misfortune to be compelled 
loudly to call the assembly to the consideration of another 
power, limited by no bounds, and wearing a most dreadful 
aspect with regard to America; the power claimed by par- 
liament of right to bind the people of these colonies by sta- 
tutes, " in ALL CASES whatsoever;" a power, as we are 
not, and, from local circumstances, cannot, be represented 
there, utterly subversive of our natural and civil liberties; 
past events, and reason convincing us, that there never ex- 
isted, and never can exist, a state thus subordinate to another, 
retaining the slightest portion of freedom or happiness." 



■» 



1774] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 493 

*' The import of the words above quoted needs no descant; 
for the wit of man, as we apprehend, cannot possibly form a 
more clear, concise, and comprehensive definition and sen- 
tence of slavery than these expressions contain." 

" The power claimed by Great Britain, and the late at- 
tempts to exercise it over these colonies, present to our view 
two events, one of which must inevitably take place. If she 
shall continue to insist on her pretensions, either the colonies 
will sink from the rank of freemen into the class of slaves, 
overwhelmed with all the miseries and vices proved by the 
history of mankind to be inseparably annexed tp that deplo- 
rable condition; or, if they have sense and virtue enough to 
exert themselves in striving to avoid this perdition, they 
must be involved in an opposition dreadful even in contem- 
plation." 

" Honour, justice, and humanity, call upon us to hold, and 
to transmit to our posterity, that liberty which we received 
from our ancestors. It is not our duty to leave wealth to our 
children ; but it is our duty to leave liberty to them. No 
infamy, iniquity, or cruelty can exceed our own, if we, born 
and educated in a country of freedom, entitled to its blessings, 
and knowing their value, pusillanimously deserting the post 
assigned us by Divine Providence, surrender succeeding gene- 
rations to a condition of wretchedness, from which no human 
efforts, in all probability, will be sufficient to extricate them; 
the experience of all states mournfully demonstrating to us, 
that when arbitrary power has been established over them, 
even the wisest and bravest nations that ever flourished, have, 
in a few years, degenerated into abject and wretched vas- 
sals." 

" To us, therefore, it appears at this alarming period, our 
duty to God, to our country, to ourselves, and to our poste- 
rity, to exert our utmost ability in promoting and establishing 
harmony between Great Britain and these colonies, on a con- 
stitutional FOUNDATION." 

" For attaining this great and desirable end, we request you 
to appoint a proper number of persons to attend a congress of 
deputies from the several colonies, appointed, or to be ap- 



49.4 HISTOHY OK PENNSYLVANIA. [l771 

pointed, by the representatives of the people of the colonies 
respectively, in assembly, or convention, or by delegates 
chosen by the counties generally in the respective colonies, 
and met in provincial committee at such time, and in such 
place, as shall be generally agreed on; and that the deputies 
in this province may be induced and encouraged to concur 
in such measures as may be devised for the common welfare, 
we think it proper particularly to inform you how far we ap- 
prehend they will be supported in their conduct by their 
constituents." 

" Mournfully revolving in our minds the calamities that, 
arising from the dissentions between the mother country and 
these colonies, will most probably fall upon us and our chil- 
dren, we will now lay before you the particular points, we 
request of you to procure, if possible, to be finally decided; 
and the measures that appear to us most likely to produce 
such a desirable period of our distresses and dangers. We 
therefore desire of you, 

" First, That the deputies you may appoint be instructed by 
you, strenuously to exert themselves at the ensuing congress, 
to obtain a renunciation on the part of Great Britain of all 
powers under the statute of the 35th Henry VIII. c. 2. (sta- 
tute for transporting 'persons guilty of certain offences to 
England for trial;) of all powers of internal legislation; of 
imposing taxes or duties, internal or external, and of regulat- 
ing trade, except with respect to any new articles of com- 
merce which the colonies may hereafter raise, as silk, wine, 
&.C. reserving a right to carry these from one colony to an 
other; a repeal of all statutes for quartering troops in the 
colonies, or subjecting them to any expense on account of 
such troops; of all statutes imposing duties to be paid in the 
colonies, that were passed at the accession of his present ma- 
jesty, or before this time, whichever period may be judged 
mostadviseablc ; of the statutes giving the courts of admiralty 
in the colonies greater power than the courts of admiralty 
have in England; of the statutes of the 5th of Geo. II. c. 22, 
and of the 23d of Geo. II. c. 29 ; of the statute for shutting 
up the port of Boston, and of every other statute, particularly 



1774] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 495 

affecting the province of Massachusetts bay, passed in the last 
session of parliament." 

"In case of obtaining these terms, it is our opinion that it 
will be reasonable for the colonies to engage their obedience 
to the acts of parliament, commonly called the acts of navi- 
gation, and to every other act of parliament declared to have 
force at this time in these colonies, other than those above 
mentioned, and to confirm such statutes by acts of the several 
assemblies. It is also our opinion, that, taking example from 
our mother country, in abolishing the * courts of wards and 
liveries, tenures in capite, and by knight's service, and pur- 
veyance,' it will be reasonable for the colonies, in case of ob- 
taining the terms before mentioned, to settle a certain annual 
revenue on his majesty, his heirs, and successors, subject to 
the control of parliament, and to satisfy all damages done to 
the East India company. ' 

"Secondly, If all the terms above mentioned cannot be 
obtained, it is our opinion that the measures adopted by the 
congress for our relief should never be relinquished or inter- 
mitted, until those relating to the troops, internal legislation, 
imposition of taxes or duties hereafter, the 35 Hen. VIII. c. 
2, the extension of admiralty courts, the port of Boston, and 
the province of Massachusetts bay, are obtained. Every 
modification or qualification of these points in our judgment 
should be inadmissible. To obtain them, we think it may be 
prudent to settle some revenue as above mentioned, and to 
satisfy the East India company. 

" Thirdly, If neither of these plans should be agreed to 
in Congress, but some others of a similar nature should be 
framed, though on the terms of a revenue and satisfaction to 
the East India company, and though it shall be agreed by the 
congress to admit no modification or qualification in the terms 
they shall insist on, we desire your deputies may be in- 
structed to concur with the other deputies in it; and we will 
accede to and carry it into execution as far as we can. 

" Fourthly, As to the regulation of trade, we are of the opi- 
nion, that, by making some few amendments, the commerce of 



496 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1774 

the colonies might be settled on a firm establishment, advan- 
tageous to Great Britain and them, requiring and subject to 
no future alterations without mutual consent. We desire to 
have this point considered by the congress, and such mea- 
sures taken as they may judge proper." 

Accompanying these instructions, and forming part of the 
original report of the sub-committee, was an eloquent and 
argumentative disquisition on the right of parliament to legis- 
late for the colonies, supported by many learned and apposite 
quotations and illustrations. 

Messrs. Dickenson, Reed, and Thompson, were directed 
to communicate to the other colonies the foregoing resolutions 
and instructions. And the latter were presented by the conven- 
tion in a body to the legislature of Pennsylvania, who then had 
received and held under consideration the proceedings of the 
assemblies of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Virginia, con- 
taining resolutions for the appointment of members to the 
provincial congress.* 

The house concurred unanimously in the propriety of this 
measure, and appointed Joseph Galloway, (their speaker) 
Samuel Rhoads, Thomas Mifflin, Charles Humphries, George 
Ross, and Edward Biddle, deputies on the part of Pennsyl- 
vania to the congress, and at a subsequent meeting John Dick- 
enson was added to the number. The delegates were in- 
structed "to meet in congress the committees of the several 
British colonies, at such time and place as should be gene- 
rally agreed upon, to consult together upon the critical and 
alarming state of the colonies, and with them to exert their 
utmost endeavours to form and adopt a plan which should 
afford the best prospect of obtaining redress of American 
grievances, ascertaining American rights, and establishing 
that union and harmony which is most essential to the wel- 
fare and happiness of both countries." But, in seeking these 
desirable objects, they were strictly charged to avoid every 
thing indecent or disrespectful to the mother state. 

• 21sl July. 



1774] HISIOKY OF I'KWSYI.VANIA. 497 

The delegates from eleven provinces assembled at Phila- 
delphia on the fourth of September; those from North Caro- 
lina did not appear until the fourteenth.* On the fifths Peyton 
Randolph of Virginia was unanimously chosen President, and 
Charles Thompson elected secretary. As the congress was 
composed of men who gave tone to the sentiments of the pro- 
vinces which they respectively represented, it was in course, 
that the prominent acts of the colonies should be supported 
and enforced with the ability and dignity pertaining to their 
joint endeavours. Still there was a chivalrous disregard of 
self in the prompt and energetic approbation of the highest 
measures of Massachusetts, which history rarely discloses 
among a temperate and calculating people, even amid the 
excitements of political revolution ; and which leads us to 
believe, that even at this time, independence of Great Britain 
was a foregone conclusion in the l^osoms of most members 
of the congress, which yet they scarce dared acknowledge to 
themselves, still less breathe to others. 

Whilst expressing " their sympathy in the sufferings of 
their countrymen of Massachusetts, under the late unjust, 
cruel, and oppressive acts of the British parliament," con- 
gress approved of the resolve of the county of Suffolk, in 
which Boston lies, "that no obedience was due from that 
province to such acts, but that they should be rejected as the 
attempts of a wicked administration." They resolved, that 
contributions from all the colonies, for supplying the neces- 
sities, and alleviating the distresses, of their brethren at Bos- 
ton, ought to be continued in such manner, and so long, as 
their occasions might require. They requested the mer- 
chants of the several colonies to refuse new orders for goods 
from Great Britain, and to suspend the execution of such as 
had been sent, until the sense of congress, on the means to 
be adopted for the preservation of the liberties of America, 
should be made public. And soon after, they adopted reso- 
lutions prohibiting the importation, the purchase, or use. of 
goods from Great Britain, or Ireland, or their dependencies, 

* Cong^ress liclil tlu>ir sessions in Carpenters' Hull. 
G3 



493 iiisroKY OF Pennsylvania. [1774 

afUr tlio fiist day of the succeeding December; and directing 
tlial all exports to Great Britain and the West Indies should 
cease on the tenth of September, 1775, unless American 
grievances sliould be sooner redressed. An association, cor- 
responding with these resolutions, was then framed, and signed 
by every member present, "Never," says Mr. Marshall, 
" were laws more faithfully observed, than were the resolves 
of congress at this period, and their association was of con- 
sequence universally adopted. "(1) 

'I'lie better to enforce these resolutions, congress recom- 
mended the appointment of committees in the several coun- 
ties and towns, who, soon after their appointment, under the 
names of committees of superintendence and correspondence, 
assumed no inconsiderable j)ortion of the executive power 
and duties in the several colonies, and became efficient instru- 
ments in aiding the progress of the revolution. 

In the city and county of Philadelphia, the committee of 
correspondence appointed at the town meeting on the eigh- 
teenth of June, voluntarily resigned their appointments, and 
two others were chosen, by the citizens entitled to vote for 
members of the legislature, by ballot; the one for the city 
and liberties, tlie other for the agricultural part of the 
count}'.* 

(1) See Note 2 S, Appendix, for manner by which these resolves were 
enforced. 

* Names of tlie committee of correspondence elected for the city and 
county of Philadelpliia, to continue in office until two weeks after the close of 
the session of congiess to be holden in May, \776: .John Dickenson, Thomas 
Mifflin, Charles Thompson, John Cadwallader, l{ol)ert Morris, Samuel How- 
ell, tieorge Clymcr, .loseph Reed, Samuel Meredith, John Allen, \\'iHiam 
Rush, James Mease, John Nixon, John Cox, John Bayard, Christopher Lud- 
wig', Thomas Barclay, George Schlosser, Jonathan B. Smith, P'rancis Wade, 
Benjamin Marsliall, Lambert Cadwallader, Beynold Keen, Richard Bache, 
John Benczet, Henry Iveppele, jr., Jacob Winey, Jacob Rush, Joseph Fal- 
coner, William Bradford, John Shee, Owen Biddle, William Heysham, 
James Milligan, John Wilcocks, Sharp Delany, Francis Gurney, John Pur- 
viance, RoI)ert Knox, P'rancis ilassencleaver, Thomas Cuthbert, Sen., Wil- 
liam Jackson, Isaac Mtlchoir, Samuel Penrose, Isaac Coates, M'illiam Coates, 
Blathwaite Jones, Thomas I'ryor, Samuel Massey, Robert Towers, Henry 
Jones, Joseph Wetherill, Joseph Copperthwaite, Joseph Dean, Benjamin 



1774J HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA- 499 

Congress also adopted a declaration of rights, embracing 
the principles contained in the instructions of the Pennsyl- 
vania convention to the assembly, an address to the people of 
Great Britain, a memorial to the inhabitants of British Ame- 
rica, and a loyal address to his majesty. They addressed 
letters to the people of Canada, and to those of the colonies of 
St. Johns, Nova Scotia, Georgia, and the Floridas, inviting 
them to unite in the. cause of British America. 

After a session of near eight weeks, the congress dissolved 
itself, recommending that another should be holden on the 
tenth of May nextensuing, at Philadelphia, unless redress for 
their grievances should be previously obtained. Their re- 
commendations were deemed by the people more sacred than 
laws enacted by constitutional authority, and received the 
formal sanction of the assemblies of the several provinces, 
that of New York excepted. 

The assembi}' of Pennsylvania was the first provincial 
legislature to which report of the congressional proceedings 
was made.* By this body, composed of a large pro[)Ortion 
of Friends, they were unanimously approved, and recom- 
mended to the inviolable observance of the people; and 
Messrs. Biddle, Dickenson, Mifflin, Galloway, Humphries, 
Morton, and Ross, were appointed delegates to tiie next con- 
gress, Mr. Rhoads being omitted, his office of mayor of the 
city engrossing all his attention. Ujjon the return of Dr. 
Franklin from London, (fourteenth of May, 1775,) he was 
immediately added to the congressional delegation, together 
with Messrs. James Wilson and Thomas Willing. Mr, Gal- 
loway having repeatedly requested to be excused from serving 
as a deputy, was then permitted to withdraw. This gentle- 
man became affrighted at the length to which the opposition 
of the parent stale was carried. He drew the instructions 
given to the Pennsylvania delegates for the past and next 
congress, and refused to serve unless they were frametl to his 

narbeson, James Ash, nenjamin Loxly, W. Robinson, joiner, Riclof AI- 
bertsoii, James Irvine. SotUhivark; Klias Hoys, Josepli Turner, Abraliam 
Jones, rtiomas Robinson. Kciisingfmi; I'.inamicl Eyres, Jacob Miller. 
* December 8. 



500 HISTOHY OK FF.NNSVI.VANIA. [1775 

wishes: He opposed the resolution a|)proving tlie i)rocecdiiigs 
of the county of Sufloik, and perplexed the deliberations of 
congress on the declaration of rights, delaying its adoption for 
near two weeks; and when congress refused to him, and Mr. 
Duane, of New York, permission to enter their protest against 
this measure on their minutes, they gave to each other certi- 
ficates of their opposition to it, under the conviction that it 
was pregnant with treason.* 

Hitherto governor Penn had looked upon the proceedings 
of the assembly without attempting to director control them. 
He was supposed to favour the efibrls made in support of 
American principles; but now a semblance of regard to the 
instructions of the crown induced him to remonstrate in mild 
terms against the continental system of petition and remon- 
strance.t " On the present occasion," he said, " it is con- 
ceived, that any grievances which his majesty's subjects in 
America apprehend they have reason to complain of, should 
be humbly represented to his majesty by the several assem- 
blies, as the only proper and constitutional mode of obtaining 
redress; and I have the best reason to believe that a proper 
attention will be paid to such representations, and to any 
propositions that may be made through that channel on the 
present state of American affairs." The assembly, however, 
was not disposed to pursue any other course of reconciliation 
than that adopted by the united colonies. They replied to 
the governor's message, " that since the year 1763 a system 
of colonial administration had been pursued, destructive of 
the rights and liberties of his majesty's most faithful subjects 
in America; and that they had heretofore adopted such mea- 
sures as they thought most likely to restore affection and 
harmony between the parent state and the colonies: That a 
most humble, dutiful, and affecting petition from the dele- 
gates of all the colonies from Nova Scotia to Georgia, was 
now at the lOot of the throne, and they trusted in the pater- 
nal alTection and justice of their sovereign, that he would 

* Votes. Pamphlet!.. Uamsey. t February 21. 



1775] HISTOKY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 501 

interpose for the relief of his greatly distressed and ever 
faithful subjects in America." 

In England, the proceedings of the Americans were view- 
ed with great indignation by the king and his ministry. 
His majesty, in his opening speech* to a parliament newly 
elected, informed them, before intelligence had been received 
of the course of the congress, "that a most daring spirit of 
resistance and disobedience to the laws unhappily prevailed 
in the province of Massachusetts, and had broken forth in 
fresh violences of a very criminal nature; and that these pro- 
ceedings had been countenanced and encouraged in his other 
colonies; that unwarrantable attempts had been made to ob- 
struct the commerce of his kingdoms by unlawful combina- 
tions; and that he had taken such measures, and given such 
orders as he judged most proper and effectual for carrying 
into execution the laws, which were passed in the last session 
of the late parliament relative to the province of Massachu- 
setts; an address, echoing the royal speech, was carried by 
large majorities in both houses of parliament, but not without 
a spirited protest from some few lords of the minority.! 

The reception in London of the proceedings of congress 
appeared to have a momentary beneficial effect upon their 
cause. The administration were staggered, and the opposi- 
tion triumphed in the truth of their predictions, that the 
measures pursued by the ministry would unite all the colo- 
nies in resistance. The petition of congress to the king was 
declared by the secretary of state, after a day's perusal, to be 
decent and proper, and was received graciously by his ma- 
jesty, who promised to lay it before his two houses of par- 
liament. But the ministry had resolved to compel the 
obedience of the Americans. Hence every representation 
from America, coming through channels, other than minis- 
terial partisans, was unwillingly received, and denied all 
credit. The remonstrances of the representatives of three 

* October 30. 

f IJichmond, Foithuul, KockingliiiiTi, Stamioivl, SlKiihopc, Toniiiglon, 
ronsonby, Wycombe, and Camden. 



502 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l775 

millions of men, made under the most awful and affecting 
circumstances, and the most sacred responsibilities, were 
treated, perhaps believed, as the clamours of an unruly mul- 
titude. In vain did the merchants of London, Bristol, Glas- 
gow, Norwich, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, and 
other places, by petition, portray the evils which must result 
from such determination, and predict the dangers to the com- 
mercial interest of the kingdom: In vain did the planters of 
the sugar colonies, resident in Great Britain, represent, that 
the profits on British property in the West India Islands, 
amounting to many millions, which ultimately centred in 
Great Britain, woultl be deranged and endangered by the 
continuance of the American troubles: In vain did the vene- 
rable earl of Chatham, roused from a long retirement, by the 
danger of losing these colonics, which his own measures had 
protected, and seemingly assured to the parent state, apply 
his comprehensive mind and matchless eloquence to arrest 
the fatal course of the administration: In vain, from a pro- 
phetic view of events, did he demonstrate the impossibility 
of subjugating the colonies; and urge the immediate removal 
of the troops collected by general Gage at Boston, as a mea- 
sure indispensably necessary to open the way for an adjust- 
ment of the ditferences with the provinces: In vain, when 
undiscouraged by the rejection of this motion, did he propose 
a bill for settling the troubles in America. The jjeriod of 
American emancipation had approached, and the power which 
might have delayed it, was providentially stultifietl. 

Both houses of parliament joined in an address to the king, 
declaring "that they find a rebellion actually exists in the 
province of Massachusetts." This was followed by an act 
for restraining the trade and commerce of the New England 
provinces, and prohibiting them from carrying on the fishe- 
ries on the banks of Newfoundland, which was subsequently 
extended to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, 
South Carolina, and the counties on the Delaware. 

Pending the consideration of this bill, lord North intro- 
duced wiuU he termed a conciliatory proposition. It provided 
that whcJi any colony should propose to make provision, ac- 



17T5] HISTORY oy Pennsylvania. 503 

cording to its circumstances, for contributing its proportion 
to the common defence, (such proportion to be raised under 
the authority of the general assembly of such colony, and 
disposable by parliament,) and should engage to make provi- 
sion also for the support of the civil government, and the ad- 
ministration of justice in such colony, it would be proper, if 
such proposal were approved by his majesty and parliament, 
and for so long as such provision should be made, to forbear 
to levy any duty or tax except such duties as were expedient 
for the regulation of commerce, the net produce of the last 
mentioned duties to be carried to the account of such colony. 
This proposition was opposed by the friends of the minister, 
as an admission of the correctness of the American views as 
to taxation by parliament, and as a concession to armed 
rebels, until it was explained tliat the resolution was designed 
to enforce the essential part of taxation by compelling the 
Americans to raise, not only what they, but what parliament 
should think reasonable. The minister declared "that he did 
not expect the proposition would be acceptable to the Ame- 
ricans, but that if it had no beneficial effect in the colonies, 
it would unite the people of England by holding out to thern 
a distinct object of revenue. That, as it tended to unite Eng- 
land, it would produce disunion in America; for, if one 
colony accepted it, their confederacy, which made them for- 
midable, would be broken." 

This avowal of the character and tendency of the resolu- 
tion was not requisite to enlighten the colonists. On its 
transmission to the provinces, it was unanimously rejected. 
A specimen of the manner in which it was attempted to be 
supported is found in the address of governor Perm to the 
assembly of Pennsylvania. He presented the resolution to 
(he house as an indication of the strong disposition of parlia- 
ment to remove the causes of American discontents; urgod 
them to consider this plan of reconciliation offered by the 
parent state to her children with that temper, calmness, and 
deliberation, which the importance of the subject and the 
present critical situation of affairs demanded; observed, that 
tbe colonies, amid the complaints occasioned by jealousy of 



504 HISTORY OF PKNNSYLVAXIA. [l775 

their liberties, had never denied the justice of contribiitinsc 
/ towards the burthens of the mother country, to whose protec- 
tion and care they owed not only their present opulence, but 
even their existence. On the contrary, every statement of 
their supposed grievances avowed the propriety of such a 
measure, and their willingness to comply with it. The dis- 
pute was therefore narrowed to this point, whether the redress 
of colonial grievanqes should precede or follow the settlement 
of that just proportion which America should bear towards 
the common support and defence of the whole British em- 
pire. In the resolution of the house of commons, which he 
was authorized to say was entirely approved by his majesty, 
they had a solemn declaration, that an exemption from any 
duty would be the consequence of a compliance with the terms 
of such resolution. For the performance of this engagement, 
he presumed no greater security would be required than the 
resolution itself approbated by his majesty. And as they 
were the first assembly to whom this resolution had been 
communicated, much depended upon their conduct, and they 
would deservedly be revered by the latest posterity, if by 
any possible means they could be instrumental in restoring 
the public tranquillity, and rescuing both countries from the 
horrors of a civil war." 

The assembly lost no time in replying to this message. 
^' They regretted," they said, " that they could not think the 
oflered terms afforded just and reasonable grounds for a final 
accommodation between Great Britain and the colonies: They 
admitted the justice of contribution in case of the burthens 
of the mother country, but they claimed itas their indisputa- 
ble right that all aids from them should be free and voluntary, 
not taken by force, nor extorted by fear; and they chose 
rather to leave the character of the proposed plan to be deter- 
mined by the governor's good sense, than to expose it by 
reference to notorious facts, or the repetition of obvious rea- 
sons. But, if the plan proposed were unexceptionable, they 
would esteem it dishonourable to adopt it without the advice 
and consent of their sister colonies, who, united by just mo- 
tives and mutual fiiith, were guided by general counsels. 



1775] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 505 

They assured him that they could form no projects of per- 
manent advantage for Pennsylvania which were not in com- 
mon with the other colonies; and should a prospect of 
exclusive advantage be opened to them, they had too great 
regard for their engagements to accept benefits for themselves 
only, which were due to all, and which, by a generous rejec- 
tion for the present, might be finally secured fo all." 

A second provincial convention was holden at Philadel- 
phia,* of which Joseph Reed was chosen president, Jonathan 
B. Smith, John Benezet, and Francis Johnston, secretaries, 
designed to enforce the measures recommended by congress, 
and to devise means for supplying the wants which adhe- 
rence to those measures left without the ordinary modes of 
gratification. The convention declared its approbation of 
the proceedings of congress, and its resolution to maintain 
the association recommended by them ; and pledged the 
counties generally, that should the trade of the city and liber- 
ties be suspended in consequence of the present struggle, 
exertions should be made to relieve its inhabitants. It re- 
solved, that the committees of superintendence of the several 
counties should aid each other in cace.of resistance to their 
efforts to enforce the principle of the association: That 
the convention earnestly desired to see harmony restored 
between Great Britain and the colonies, and would exert 
their utmost endeavours to attain this object: That the com- 
mercial opposition resolved on by the continental congress, 
if faithfully sustained, would be the means of rescuing the 
country from the evils meditated against it; but should the 
humble and loyal petition of congress to his majesty be dis- 
regarded, and the British ministry, instead of redressing their 
grievances, determine by force to effect submission to the 
late arbitrary acts of parliament, they deemed it their indis- 
pensable duty to resist such force, and at every hazard to de- 
fend the rights and liberties of America." 

To provide against the inconveniences arising from non- 
importation, the convention recommended that no sheep 

» January 23 to 23. 
64 



506 HISTORY OF FliNNSYLVANlA. [1775 

under tour years oUI should be killed for the shambles; that 
various branches of manufactures in wool, iron, copper, tin, 
paper, glass, &c. should be established ; that attention should 
be paid to the growing of dye stuffs, flax and hemp, and to 
the making of salt, saltpetre, and gunpowder; and the latter 
article especially, in large quantities, inasmuch as there ex- 
isted a great necessity for it, particularly in the Indian 
trade; that the manufactures of the colonies should be ex- 
clusively used, and that associations should be formed for 
promoting these objects. Public exposure, as an enemy of 
the country, was denounced, as the penalty on the wretch, 
who, taking advantage of the times, should be sordid enough 
to charge an extravagant profit upon his wares. The com- 
mittee of correspondence of the city and county of Philadel- 
phia was empowered by the convention to act as a standing 
committee of correspondence for the province, and to convene 
a provincial convention when thej' should deem it expedient. 
This committee assumed to themselves powers widely dif- 
ferent from those indicated by their title. The crisis to which 
the convention looked forward, when framing their late re- 
solves, had arrived. The battle of Lexington was fought, 
and submission to the arbitrary acts of parliament was at- 
tempted to be enforced by the bayonet. An unquenchable 
blaze of indignation pervaded the continent. At Philadel- 
phia, under the direction of the committee, a meeting of the 
people, consisting of many thousands, resolved to form a mi- 
litary association for the protection of their properly, their 
liberties, and their lives.* The association extended through 
every county of the province; its members cheerfully fur- 
nishing themselves with the necessary arms, and devoting 
themselves to acquire skill in their use. At the instance of 
the committee of correspondence, the assembly approved the 
association, and engaged to provide for the pay and suste- 
nance of such of the members as should be called into actual 
service, and appropriated the sum of seven thousand pounds 
for the defence of the city.t 

• April 24. t May. June. 



1775] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 507 

Congress at their session in May having resolved to raise a 
continental army, of which the Pennsylvania portion amount- 
ed to four thousand three hundred men, the assembly re- 
commended to the commissioners of the several counties, as 
they regarded the freedom, welfare, and safety of their coun- 
try, to provide arms and accoutrements for this force: they 
also directed the officers of the military association to select 
a number of minute men, equal to the number of arms which 
could be procured, who should hold themselves in readiness 
■ to march at the shortest notice to any quarter, in case of emer- 
gency; they made further appropriations for the defence of 
the city against attacks by vessels of war, and directed the pur- 
chase of all the saltpetre that should be manufactured within 
the next six months at a premium price. The house adopted 
also a most important and effective measure, in the appoint- 
ment of a committee of public safety, with power to call the 
associated troops into service, to pay and support them, and 
generally to provide for the defence of the province against 
invasion and insurrection; issuing for these purposes bills of 
credit for thirty-five thousand pounds, redeemable by a tax 
on real and personal estate.* Of this sum, and others, after- 
wards voted by the house, Michael Hillegas was appointed 
treasurer. The committee at once assumed the chief executive 
powers in the province. 

Amid these warlike preparations, the assembly was not 
unmindful of those inhabitants who were conscientiously scru- 
pulous of bearing arms. They earnestly recommended to 
the associators to bear a tender and fraternal regard towards 

* Committee of safety: — John Dickenson, George Gray, Henry Wyn- 
koop, Anthony Wayne, Benjamin Bartholomew, George Ross, Michael 
Swope, John Montgomery, Kdward Biddle, William Edmonds, Bernard 
Dougherty, Samuel Hunter, William Thompson, Thomas Willing, Ben- 
jamin Franklin, Daniel Kobei'deau, John Cadwallader, Andrew Allen, 
Owen Biddle, Francis Johnston, Richard Reilly, Samuel Morris, jr., Robert 
Morris, Thomas Wharton, jr., and Robert White: of this committee Dr. 
Franklin was cliosen president. After the election in October, these gen- 
tlemen were re-appointed, and Joseph Reed, Nicholas Fairlamb, George 
Clymer, Samuel Howell, Alexander Wilson, John Nixon, James Mease 
and James Biddle, were added to the committee. 



508 HISIOUY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l775 

this class of their fellow subjects; and to the latter, that they 
should cheerfully, in proportion to their ability, aid such as- 
sociators who might be unable to expend their time and sub- 
stance in the public service without injury to themselves and 
families. This latter recommendation was scarce needed; 
for if the society of Friends refused to take arms, they be- 
stowed their wealth to relieve the suflferers by the calami- 
ties of war. The meeting of sufferings held in Philadelphia, 
on the sixth of July, declared, that the afflictions and dis- 
tresses of the inhabitants of Massachusetts, and other parts 
of New England, had often engaged their pity and commi- 
seration, with a desire to be instrumental for their relief; and, 
by a circular addressed to their members, they recommended 
to their serious and benevolent consideration, the sorrowful 
calamities prevailing among these people, and a contribution 
for the relief of the necessitous of every religious denomi- 
nation. To this end, they distributed printed subscription 
papers; and requested that suitable active members might be 
appointed in each monthly and preparatory meeting, to apply 
for the donations of Friends. The task of applying their 
gifts was imposed upon a committee of twenty-six persons, 
appointed by the yearly meeting at Rhode Island, with whom 
they proposed to correspond. 

Among the fiist labours of the committee of public safety, 
was that of preparing articles for the government of the mi- 
litary association. These citizen soldiers refused to sign, 
and submit to, the proposed regulations; alleging, that many 
persons, rich and able to perform military duty, claimed ex- 
emption, under pretence of conscientious scruples; and as- 
serting, that where the liberty of all was at stake, all should 
aid in its defence, and that where the cause was common to 
all, it was inconsistent with justice and equity that the burden 
should be partial. Moved by these representations, the com- 
mittee of safety recommended to the assembly, to provide 
that all persons should be subject to military duty, but that 
persons conscientiously scrupulous, might compound for actual 
service, by a pecuniary equivalent. The house, however, 
was not prepared for a measure of so strong a character; and 



1775] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 509 

they suffered their term of office to expire, without passing 
upon the proposition. 

But this subject was pressed on the early attention of the 
succeeding assembly;* congress having recommended to the 
inhabitants of the several provinces, between the ages of six- 
teen and fifty, to organize themselves into regular companies 
of militia, gave new occasion to the associators to urge the 
assembly to put all the inhabitants in this respect on an equal 
footing. 

The Quakers, who were the most affected by coercion to 
military service, addressed the legislature, setting forth their 
religious faith and practice with respect to bearing arms, the 
persecutions sustained by their ancestors for conscience sake, 
and the consequent abandonment of their native country, 
and emigration to the wilderness, in search of civil and reli- 
gious liberty; and claiming exemption from military service, 
by virtue of the thirty-fifth section of the laws agreed upon 
in England, and the first clause of the existing charter granted 
by Penn. By the first, " no person living peaceably and justly 
in civil society could be molested or prejudiced by his reli- 
gious persuasion or practice, in matters of faith or worship." 
"Nor," by the second, "be compelled to do or suffer any 
thing contrary to his religious persuasion." They contended, 
therefore, that they could not be legally required to do aught 
which their consciences forbade, and that the sincerity of 
their scruples should be judged by the Lord of their con- 
sciences only. They asserted that they entertained a just 
sense of the value of their religious and civil liberties, and 
had ever been desirous of preserving them by all measures 
not inconsistent with their Christian profession and princi- 
ples; and, though they believed it to be their duty to submit 
to the powers which, in the course of Divine Providence, 
were set over them, yet where there was oppression, or cause 
of suffering, it became them with Christian meekness and 
firmness to petition and remonstrate against it, and to en- 

* October. 



510 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [177^ 

deavour, by just reasoning and arguments, to assert their 
rights and principles in order to obtain relief." 

The Menonists and German baptists also addressed the 
assembly with prayers for exemption from military service. 
But their views differed essentially from those of the Quakers. 
The latter not only refused personal military service, but 
they denied the lawfulness of commuting it for pecuniary 
consideration; whilst the former declared, that, though not 
at liberty in conscience to bear arms, it was a principle with 
them to feed the hungry, and give the thirsty drink; and that 
they were always ready, pursuant to Christ's command to 
Peter, to pay tribute, that they might offend no man ; and 
that they were ready to pay taxes, and to render unto Caesar 
the things which were Caesar's. 

The right of exemption from military service and contri- 
bution claimed by the Quakers, was earnestly contested by 
the committee of correspondence of the city and county of 
Philadelphia, and by committees from the officers and privates 
of the military association, from whom addresses were seve- 
rally presented to the assembly. The first denounced the 
principles of non-resistance professed by Friends, " as un- 
friendly to the liberties of America, destructive of all society 
and government, and highly reflecting on the glorious revo- 
lutions which placed the present royal family on the throne." 
"Though firmly persuaded," they said, " that a majority of 
that society have too much sincerity, wisdom, and good sense, 
to be influenced by such principles; yet duty to ourselves, 
to our country, and our posterity, at this alarming crisis, con- 
strains us to use our utmo.st endeavours to prevent the fatal 
consequences that might attend your compliance with the 
application of the people called Quakers. These gentlemen 
would withdraw their persons and fortunes from the service 
of their country at a time when most needed; and if the pa- 
trons and friends of liberty succeed in the present glorious 
struggle, they and their posterity will enjoy all the advan- 
tages, without jeoparding person or property. Should the 
friends of liberty fail, /he?/ will risk no forfeitures, but 
having merited the protection and favour of the British minis- 



iZTSj HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 511 

try, will probably be rewarded by promotion to office. This 
they seem to desire and expect. Though such conduct mani- 
festly tends to defeat the virtuous and wise measures planned 
by the congress, and is obviously selfish, ungenerous, and 
unjust, yet we would animadvert upon the arguments they 
have used to induce the house to favour and support it." 

The committee denied that the Old or New Testament fur- 
nished a single argument in support of this plea of conscience; 
that it was sustainable by a proper construction of the charter 
by Penn, or a just consideration of his principles. " He had," 
they said, "accepted the title of captain-general, with power 
by himself, his captains, and other officers, to levy, muster, 
and train all sorts of men, of what condition soever, and to 
make war even out of the province. If none but Quakers 
came at first to the province with the proprietor, and the 
colony was intended exclusively for them, as the addressers 
seemed to intimate, the petitioners could not conceive that 
any others than Quakers could be made captains and offi- 
cers." 

" Be this as it may, self-preservation," they continued, " is 
the first duty of nature, which every man indispensably owes, 
not only to himself, but to the Supreme Director and Gover- 
nor of the Universe, who gave him being: In political society, 
all men, by the original compact, are required to unite in 
defence of the community against such as would unlawfully 
deprive them of their rights, and those who withdraw them- 
selves from this compact are not entitled to the protection of 
the society. The safety of the people is the supreme law. 
He who receives an equal benefit should bear an equal bur- 
then. The doctrine of passive obedience and non-resistance 
is incompatible with freedom and happiness; and the peti- 
tioners were of opinion that even the addressers, who, distant 
from danger, and seduced by casuistical reasoning, might 
affect to exclude all resistance, would listen to the voice of 
nature, when evident ruin to themselves and the public must 
follow a strict adherence to such principles, if there were no 
other persons in the community to defend them." They 
therefore prayed, that the assembly would not, at a time when 



512 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l775 

the aid of every individual was required to preserve their 
common rights, exempt many of the wealthiest citizens from 
co-operating with their countrymen in some way or other 
for their common safety. Like representations were made 
from the board of officers, and committee of privates of the 
military association, in terms more energetic, but not sustain- 
ed by more efficient reasons. 

Thus urged, ihe assembly resolved, that " all persons be- 
tween the ages of sixteen and fifty, capable of bearing arms, 
who did not associate for the defence of the province, ought 
to contribute an equivalent for the time spent by the associa- 
tors in acquiring military discipline, ministers of the gospel, 
of all denominations, and servants purchased bona-fide for 
valuable consideration, only, excepted. By this resolution 
the principle which still regulates fines for neglect or refusal 
of military service was established. 

The military association, originally a mere voluntary en- 
gagement, became, by the resolutions of the assembly, now 
having the effect of laws, a compulsory militia. Returns were 
required from the assessors of the several townships and 
wards of all persons within military age, capable of bearing 
arms; and the captains of the companies of associators were 
directed to furnish to their colonels, and the colonels to the 
county commissioners, lists of such persons as had joined the 
association ; and the commissioners were empowered to assess 
on those not associated the sum of two pounds ten shillings 
annually, in addition to the ordinary tax. The assembly also 
adopted rules and regulations for the better government of 
the military association, the thirty-fifth article of which pro- 
vided, " that if any associator called into actual service, should 
leave a family not of ability to maintain themselves in his 
absence, the justices of the peace of the proper city or county, 
with the overseers of the poor, should make provision for 
their maintainance." 



CHAPTER XXI. 

State of tlie dispute with England- •••Hostilities commenced 
••••Meeting of congress ••••Desire to fix the commencement 
of hostilities on the British-'^^Advice to the inhabitants of 
New York, relative to the reception of British troops — Co- 
louring given to the capture of Ticonderoga-^-^Measures of 
offence and defence adopted by congress- •••Address to the 
army • • • Selection of a commander-in-chiefs • • • George Wash- 
ington appointed^'^^Address of the congress of New York 
on his appointment^^^^Appointment of subordinate generals, 
&C'""Last petition to the king^^^ •Contemplated rejection 
thereof^-^ -Manifesto of congress- •••General Washington re- 
pairs to the army before Boston- •••Invasion of Canada- •-- 
Arnold's expedition to Quebec---«Attack on Quebec, under 
Montgomery and Arnold ••••Death of Montgomery** Ar- 
nold wounded'^^^Americans withdraw from Quebec--" 
Character of Montgomery^^Military preparations of Penn- 
sylvania^'^^Change of the colonial government proposed in 
congress'-^^Differences of opinion on the change of govern- 
ment in Pennsylvania^"-New parties formed----Whigs and 
tories----Town meeting in Philadelphia deny the power of 
the assembly to new model the government- •• -Measures 
adopted for calling a provincial conference- ---Opposition 
to the change of government----Measures of the committee 
for the city and county of Philadelphia- •••Provincial confe- 
rence assembles^^^ -Proceedings- ---Their address to the peo- 
ple**-- Virginia proposes to congress to declare the colonies 
independent***^Instructions of Pennsylvania delegates in re- 
lation thereto* •••Declaratien of independence by the Penn- 
sylvania conference*'^^ Adopted measures for organizing 
militia- ••-Independence proposed and debated in congress 

• — Arguments thereon — Lee and Adams — Dickenson---- 
— Declaration of independence prepared — Adopted — 
Proclaimed — Remarks — Meetii\g of the convention for 
65 



514 HISTOUY OF VKNNSYLVANIA. [l775 

forming constitution of Pennsylvania — Proceedings- •• 'Con- 
vention assumes the whole political power of the state- ••• 
Appoints delegates to congress* •••Assembly, last meetings 
of- ••-Expiration of the term of, and extinction of the colo- 
nial government. 

Congress had fixed on the month of May for their next 
meeting, that the disposition of the parent state might be 
known previously to their deliberations. They entertained 
hopes that their re-assembling might be unnecessary; that 
the union of the colonies, their petition to the king, and ad- 
dress to the people of Great Britain, would lead to the redress 
of their grievances. But these flattering delusions now gave 
place to the stern and gloomy truth, that their rights must be 
defended by the sword ; that their quarrel must be determined 
by an appeal to the God of battles. For this appeal the colo- 
nies generally prepared, as soon as the proceedings of par- 
liament, and resolution of ministry to send out additional 
troops, were known. Means were taken every where to 
organize and instruct the mililia, and to procure arms and 
munitions of war. 

Before congress met hostilities had commenced; the battle 
of Lexington was fought,* and Ticonderoga captured;! and 
soon after the ever memorable engagement at Breed's Hill,+ 
gave confidence to the colonists, and the British army under 
general Gage was besieged in Boston. Instead of contending 
against orations of ministers, votes, and acts of parliament, 
by petitions and remonstrances, addresses and resolutions, 
congress was now to be employed in developing the resources, 
and directing the energies of the colonies to sustain and over- 
come the military power of Great Britain, hitherto deemed 
irresistible. 

Peyton Randolph was again chosen president, and Charles 
Thompson secretary of congress. But Mr. Randolph, a few 
days after the commencement of the session, having been re- 
called to Virginia, by his duties as speaker of the house of 

« 19th April. t 9th May. \ June 17. 



1775] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 515 

burgesses of that province, Mr. John Hancock was unani- 
mously chosen his successor. Although the leading patriots 
had long been convinced that the controversy must be decided 
by arms, they were anxious that the odium of commencing 
hostilities should fall on their oppressors. With this view 
depositions were presented to congress, proving that the king's 
troops had been the aggressors at the battle of Lexington ; 
and the inhabitants of New York were advised to act on the 
defensive, on the arrival of British troops destined for that 
port, so long as might be consistent with their safety; to per- 
mit the troops to remain in the barracks, whilst they behaved 
peaceably, but not to suffer fortifications to be erected, nor 
the communication between the town and country to be im- 
peded. To the same cause also must be assigned, the resolu- 
tion of congress, ascribing the capture of Ticonderoga to the 
imperious necessity of resisting a cruel invasion of the colo- 
nies from Canada, planned and commenced by the ministry, 
and recommending the removal of the stores from that post 
to some place south of lake George, that they might be re- 
stored when harmony between Great Britain and her colonies 
should render it prudent and consistent with the overruling 
law of self-preservation. 

Congress proceeded promptly to the adoption of further 
measures of offence and defence. They prohibited the ex- 
port trade to such parts of British America as had not joined 
their confederacy; forbade the supply of provisions and other 
necessaries to the English fisheries on the coast, to the army 
and navy in Massachusetts, and to vessels employed in the 
transport of British troops and munitions of war; and inter- 
dicted the negotiation of bills of exchange drawn by British 
officers, agents, or contractors, and the furnishing of money 
to them on any terms whatever. They resolved, that, for 
the purpose of securing the colonics against all attempts to 
execute by force the late obnoxious acts of parliament, they 
should be immediately put into a state of defence; recommend- 
ing to the provinces, severally, to provide the means of 
fabricating gunpowder, and oI)tainiiig adequate supplies of 
ammunition; to arm and discipline their militia, and so to 



516 HISTOUY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1775 

class tlicm, that one-fourth of their number might be drawn 
into action at a minute's warning, and to form a corps for the 
continental service; authorizing each colony apprehensive of 
an attack from the English army, to levy one thousand regu- 
lars, at the expense of the Union: they organized the higher 
departments of the army, framed rules and regulations for 
its government; and, for its maintainance, issued bills of cre- 
dit to the value of three millions of dollars, pledging the 
faith of the confederated colonics for their redemption: they 
prepared an address, which they directed to be published to 
the army, when organized, and to be read to the people from 
the pulpits, reviewing the conduct of Great Britain towards 
her colonists, exposing the enormity of her pretension to 
legislate for them in all cases, exhibiting the dreadful alterna- 
tive to which she had reduced them, of unconditional sub- 
mission, or resistance by arms; and asserting the justice of 
their cause, the competency of the means to maintain it, 
and their fixed determination to employ, at every hazard, the 
utmost energy of the powers granted by their Creator, for 
the preservation of their liberties. This spirit-stirring ma- 
nifesto closed with the following solemn protestation. "In 
our native land, in defence of the freedom which is our birth- 
right, and which we ever enjoyed until the late violation of 
it, for the protection of our property, acquired solely by the 
honest industry of our forefathers and ourselves, against vio- 
lence actually offered, we have taken up arms; we shall lay 
them down when hostilities shall cease on the part of the 
aggressors, and all danger of their being renewed shall be 
removed, and not before." 

The selection of a commander-in-chief for the colonial 
armies, would, under other than existing circumstances, have 
been attended with much difficulty, in consequence of the 
opposing pretensions of the northern, middle, and southern 
colonies. The individual best fitted for this important trust, 
was now a delegate in congress, and had embarked a high 
character and splendid fortune, together with his life, in the 
mighty contest. Of mature age, and advantageously known 



1775] HISTORY or PENNSYLVANIA, 5 17 

to all British America, by his military talents, sound judg- 
ment, firm temper, spotless integrity, and dignified person 
and demeanour, there could not exist a single personal ob- 
jection to his nomination. The middle and southern districts 
possessed no man having superior claims to the public confi- 
dence; and if the northern provinces had a preference for 
an individual of their own section, policy and gratitude re- 
quired its sacrifice. The delegates from Massachusetts, there- 
fore, nominated colonel George Washington, of Virginia, 
who was unanimously appointed general and commander-in- 
chief of the United colonies.* His commission, revocable 
by the present or future congress, invested him wilh "full 
power and authority to act as he should think for the good 
and welfare of the service," subject to the rules and disci- 
pline of war, and the orders of congress. By a resolution 
simultaneous with his appointment, congress declared, ''that 
for the maintainance and preservation of American liberty, 
they would adhere to him with their lives and fortunes." The 
reply of Mr. Washington to the annunciation of his appoint- 
ment by the president of congress, was marked by that mo- 
desty, disinterestedness, and devotion to duty, which emi- 
nently distinguished him. As no pecuniary motive had 
excited him to action in the public cause, he declined all 
compensation for services that were inestimable, declaring 
that he would accept only the reimbursement of his expenses. 
This wise and fortunate appointment was universally ap- 
proved. But amid the expressions of satisfaction which 
were tendered to the general, there were indications of that 
just and irrepressible jealousy of military power which should 
distinguish a free people. The provincial congress of New 
York, whilst declaring their confidence in him, deemed it 
proper also, to avow their expectations, " that, when an ac- 
commodation with the mother country should be effected, he 
would cheerfully resign the important deposit committed to 
his hands, and re-assume the character of our worthiest citi- 
zen." Nor were these expectations disappointed. The vir- 

• .Iiinc i:., 1775. 



518 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1775 

tuous man who drew his sword in his country's need, re- 
turned it to the scabbard when no longer necessary for her 
service, unstained by the blood of those he was called to pro- 
tect; and cheerfully resigned a dictatorial power which he 
had exercised with the most profound respect for the consti- 
tution, the laws, and the established civil authority, calmly 
letiring to the enjoyment of domestic quiet and rural employ- 
ments, rewarded for his labours by an approving conscience, 
and the unmingled blessings of his fellow citizens. 

Soon after the nomination of the commander-in-chief, con- 
gress proceeded to create and fill the offices of subordinate 
generals. Artemas Ward, Charles Lee, Philip Schuyler, 
and Israel Putnam, were appointed major-generals, ranking 
in the order we have named them; Horatio Gates, adjutant- 
general; and Seth Pomeroy, Richard Montgomery, David 
Wouster, William Heath, Joseph Spencer, John Thomas, John 
Sullivan, and Nathaniel Greene, brigadiers. 

Although determined to resist to the uttermost the tyranny 
of the parent state, the colonies had given no public indica- 
tion of their desire to become independent of her govern- 
ment. Many provincialists, certainly, looked to political 
independence as the possible result of the contest; some, per- 
haps, wished and sought it, but none avowed such wishes. 
The American people were proud of their derivation, and 
exulted in their connexion with Great Britain. Some of their 
most distinguished patriots could under no circumstances re- 
solve to break the bonds which bound them to her. It was 
characteristic, therefore, that, amid warlike preparations, re- 
newed attempts should be made to propitiate the British 
government and people. Another petition to the king was, 
however, opposed by several members of the congress, from 
a conviction that it would prove nugatory. But the influence 
of Mr. Dickenson, by whom it was proposed and written, 
procured its adoption. 

This address, replete with professions of duty and attach- 
ment, declared, that *' the provincialists not only most fer- 
vently desired the former harmony between Great Britain 
and the colonies to be restored, but that a concord might be 



1775] HIbTOUY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 519 

established between them upon so firm a basis, as to per- 
petuate its blessings, uninterrupted by any future dissentions, 
to succeeding generations in both countries. They, there- 
fore, besought his majesty to direct some mode by which the 
united applications of his faithful colonists to the throne, in 
pursuance of their common counsels, might be improved to 
a happy and permanent reconciliation. These sincere pro- 
fessions of three millions of his subjects, were contemptuously 
treated by the king. The petition was presented through 
the secretary for American affairs, on the first of September, 
by Messrs. Richard Penn and Henry Lee; and on the fourth, 
lord Dartmouth informed them, that "to it no answer would 
be given." And in a speech from the throne, the colonists 
were accused of designing " to amuse, by vague expressions 
of attachment to the parent state, and the strongest pro- 
testations of loyalty to their king, while they were preparing 
for a general revolt; and that their rebellious war was mani- 
festly carried on for the purpose of establishing an indepen- 
dent empire." Contumely so unwise and undeserved, served 
but to confirm the scrupulous in America, in the course of 
resistance — removing the faintest hope of redress by the 
humble and pacific means of petition and remonstrance. 

Whilst resorting to arms, respect for the opinions of their 
fellow subjects induced congress to make an exposition of 
their motives in addresses to the inhabitants of Great Britain, 
to the people of Ireland, and to the assembly of Jamaica. 
They also published a declaration to the world, setting forth 
the necessity of assuming arms, and recapitulating the inju- 
ries they had sustained. "We are," they said, " reduced to 
the alternative of choosing an unconditional submission to the 
tyranny of irritated ministers, or resistance by force. The 
latter is our choice. We have counted the cost of this con- 
test, and find nothing so dreadful as voluntary slavery." 

General Washington, immediately after his appointment 
to the chief command, repaired to the army before Boston, 
With incredible difficulty he was enabled to maintain a show 
of force, which confined the British troops to that town from 
the month of June, 1775, until the month of March follow- 



520 KlSrOKY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1775 

ing, when the Americans, having seized and fortified Doi- 
chester heights, which overlooked and commanded the place, 
general Howe, who had succeeded general Gag<^,* abandoned 
it, antl sailed with his command for Halifax. 

The capture of Ticonderoga had opened the gates of Cana- 
da, and the impetuous spirit of colonel Arnold was eager to 
enter them. At his instance congress resolved to invade that 
province, and from the unprepared stale of its defence, and 
the friendly disposition of its inhabitants, well founded hopes 
were entertained of success. This step, which changed the 
character of the war from defensive to offensive, was justified 
by the obvious propriety of depriving the enemy, for such 
the parent state was now considered, of the means of assailing 
the colonies from that quarter. The command of this enter- 
prise was given to generals Schuyler and Montgomery. The 
former, however, soon retired, in consequence of ill health. 
The latter, with a force of one thousand men, having captured 
the fort at Chamblee, and the post of St. Johns, proceeded to 
Montreal in despite of the opposing efforts of general Carlton, 
governor of the province; and, having obtained at this place 
many necessary supplies, he led his gallant little army to the 
walls of Quebec. 

During the progress of general Montgomery, colonel Ar- 
nold, with boldness and perseverance rarely surpassed, con- 
ducted a detachment to the St. Lawrence, by an unexplored 
course along the Kennebeck and Chaudiere rivers, through a 
trackless desert of three hundred miles. His force originally 
consisted of one thousand men, one-third of whom were com- 
pelled to return by the want of necessaries. The remainder 
persevered with unabated resolution, surmounting every ob- 
stacle of mountain and forest, progressing at times not more 
than five miles a day, and so destitute of provisions, that some 
of the men ate their dogs, cartouch boxes, breeches and shoes. 
When distant a hundred miles from any habitation, their 
whole store was divided, yielding only four pints of flour per 
man, and after having baked and eaten their last morsel, Ihey 

* October 10. 



1775] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 521 

had thirty miles to travel before they could expect relief. 
After a march of thirty-one days, they reached the inhabited 
parts of Canada, ivhere they were kindly received, and their 
wants supplied by the astonished natives. 

Before Montgomery attained Montreal, Arnold had reach- 
ed Point Levy, opposite Quebec; and had it been possible 
for the latter to cross the St. Lawrence, that important place 
would probably have been immediately surrendered by the 
astounded and affrighted garrison. But the want of boats 
occasioned an indispensable delay of a few days, and the in- 
habitants, English and Canadians, alarmed for their property, 
united for its defence. 

The prospects of the Americans, however, were cheering. 
The inhabitants of Canada, many of whom were from the 
colonies of New England and New York, were friendly to 
the colonial cause, and excited by the wisdom and humanity 
of general Montgomery, gave the most efficient aid. The 
united American forces laid siege to Quebec, but the paucity 
of their number forbade any just expectations of reducing the 
place, unless by a coup de main. General Montgomery was 
induced, by various considerations, to attempt it by storm. 
The depth of winter was approaching; dissentions had arisen 
between Arnold and his officers; the specie of the military 
chest was exhausted, and the continental bills were uncurrent; 
the troops, worn by toil, were exposed to the severities of 
the season; the term for which many had enlisted was near 
expiring, and their departure for home was apprehended; 
and the brilliant success that had hitherto attended them 
had excited hopes, which their high-spirited and enthusias- 
tic commander dreaded to disappoint. He was not unaware 
of the danger and hazard of such an attempt. Governor Carl- 
ton, who commanded in Quebec, was an experienced and able 
soldier ; and thegarrison, provided with every thing necessary 
for defence, daily acquired firmness. But success had often 
crowned adventures more hopeless than that which he pro- 
posed; and the triumph of Wolfe on this very field, taught 
him, that to the brave and resolute, difficult things were not 
impossibilities. 
66 



522 HISTORY OF PKNNSYI.VANIA. [1775 

Tlie escalade of the town was made with a force of less than 
eight hundred men.* Two feints were directed, one by co- 
lonel Livingston, at the head of his regiment of Canadian 
auxiliaries, the other by major Brown ; the principal attacks 
were conducted by Montgomery and Arnold, in person. The 
former advancing against the lower town, had passed the first 
barrier, and was preparing to storm the second, when he was 
killed by the discharge of a cannon fired by the last of its re- 
treating defenders. His death so dispirited the assailants, 
that colonel Campbell, on whom the command devolved, 
thought proper to draw them off. Arnold, at the head of 
about three hundred and fifty men, with irresistible impetu- 
osity, carried a two gun battery; but in the conflict receiving 
a wound from a musket ball, which shattered his leg, he was 
compelled to quit the field. His party continued the assault, 
and mastered a second barrier. But after a contest for three 
hours with the greater part of the garrison, finding themselves 
hemmed in, without hopes of success, relief, or retreat, they 
yielded themselves prisoners. This issue, so unfortunate for 
the colonists, relieved the town from all apprehensions for its 
safety, the invaders being so much weakened as to be scarce 
competent to their own defence. Arnold encamped at three 
miles distance from Quebec, and maintained his position amid 
many dilficulties and great privations, until the spring, when 
he was joined by reinforcements. 

The fall of general Montgomery was deplored by friends 
and foes. He was an Irishman by birth, and though scarce 
thirty-eight years of age, was a veteran soldier. He had 
shared in the labours and triumph of Wolfe, was distinguish- 
ed for talent and military genius, blessed with a mild and 
constant temper, and dauntless courage; the highest honours 
of his profession awaited him in the British serviee. These 
he abandoned for the enjoyments of domestic happiness in 
the country of his adoption. But devoted to freedom, he en- 
gaged enthusiastically in defence of. the American cause, and 
by his early successes in the Canadian campaign, induced the 
highest anticipations of future greatness. In parliament his 

* December 31. 



ir/Sj HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 523 

worth was acknowledged, and his fate lamented; the minister 
himself joined in his praise, whilst condemning the cause in 
which he fell, and concluded his involuntary panegyric, in 
the language of the poet, crying, " Curse on his virtues, they've 
undone his country." In congress he was mourned as a 
martyr to liberty, and by their direction a marble monument, 
of beautiful simplicity, with emblematical devices, has been 
erected to his memory, in front of St. Paul's church, New 
York. 

Pursuant to the recommendation of congress, the assembly 
of Pennsylvania authorized the enlistment of a battalion of 
eight companies for the continental service, and nominated 
John Bull, colonel; James Irwin, lieutenant-colonel; and 
Anthony J. Morris, major.* The house also resolved by 
the casting vote of the speaker, to levy fifteen hundred men 
for the defence of the province, to be engaged until the first 
of January, 1778; subject, however, to be discharged at any 
time on the advance of a month's pay. These troops were 
divided into three battalions, two of riflemen, and one of in- 
fantry. The riflemen were formed into a regiment, and 
placed under the command of Mr. Samuel Miles, a distin- 
guished member of the assembly, with the rank of first pro- 
vincial colonel. James Piper was appointed lieutenant-colonel, 
and Ennion Williams major of the first battalion, and Daniel 
Broadhead lieutenant-colonel, and John Patton major of the 
second battalion. Mr. John Cadwallader was nominated co- 
lonel, and Mr. James Potts major of the infantry battalion. 
But Mr. Cadwallader having applied for the command of the 
first battalion, refused to accept the commission tendered to 
him, and it was subsequently given to Mr. Samuel Atlee. 

Whilst the colonies openly resisted the authority of their 

* Cai'tains. — William Allen, jr. Jonathan Jones, William Williams, Jo- 
siah Harman, Marien Lamar, Thomas Dorsey, William Jenkins, and Augus 
tus Willet. Lieutenants — Benjamin Davis, Samuel Watson, Jacob 
Ashmead, Peter Hughes, Adam Hubley, John Reece, Frederick Blanken- 
burg, Richard Stanley. Ensigns — l{oger Sleiner, Philip Glumburg, jr. 
Jaoob Zeigler, George Jenkins, Christian Stoddle, Thomas Ryeison, Wil- 
liam Moore, and Amos Wilkinson. 



524 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1776 

king, and strove to conquer by their arms a province which 
had no participation in their grievances, they continued to 
administer the civil government in his majesty's name. 

This inconsistency served to distract the patriotic with 
doubts, and to paralyze their energies, and congress hastened 
to correct it. They declared, that his Britannic majesty, with 
the lords and commons, had, by act of parliament, excluded 
the United colonies from the protection of the crown; that, 
not only had their humble petition for redress and reconci- 
liation been received with disdain, but the whole force of the 
kingdom, aided by foreign mercenaries, was about to be ex- 
erted for their destruction ; that, therefore, it was irreconci- 
lable with reason and good conscience for the colonists to take 
the oaths for supporting any government under the crown of 
Great Britain ; and it was necessary that the exercise of every 
kind of authority under the crown should be suppressed, and 
that all the powers of government should be exercised by the 
people of the colonies for the preservation of internal peace, 
virtue, and good order, and the defence of their lives, liber- 
ties, and properties, against the hostile invasions and cruel 
depredations of their enemies. For these purposes congress 
resolved, " That it be recommended to the respective assem- 
blies and conventions of the United colonies, where no go- 
vernment sufficient to the exigencies of their affairs has been 
hitherto established, to adopt such government as shall, in the 
opinions of the representatives of the people, best conduce to 
the happiness and safety of their constituents in particular, 
and America in general."* 

This was virtually a declaration of independence. It was 
such almost in terms. The renunciation of allegiance to the 
British crown, and the establishment of governments by the 
authority of the people, were made certainly with no hope 
of reconciliation, nor desire of re-union with the parent state. 
When Massachusetts asked advice of congress on the pro- 
priety of " taking up and exercising the powers of civil go- 
vernment,"! they recommended such regulations only as 

• May. t June, 1775. 



1776] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 525 

were indispensable, and those to be conformed as nearly as 
possible to the spirit of their charter ; and to endure no longer 
than until a governor of his majesty's appointment should 
consent to govern the colony according to that instrument. 
This was in perfect accord with the professions of the colo- 
nies of respect and attachment, and dependence on Great Bri- 
tain. But the resolution now adopted spoke not of limitation 
to the powers to be assumed by the people, neither as to their 
nature nor duration. 

The preamble to the resolution, containing the reasons for 
its adoption, denied that the people, with good conscience, 
could take the oaths to any form of government under the 
crown, and required the suppression of every species of au- 
thority claimed by il; but the resolution itself recommended 
the adoption of a new form of government, where none suffi- 
cient for the exigencies of present affairs had been established. 
Hence it became a question in Pennsylvania, and especially 
with her assembly, whether congress designed that a change 
should be made in her government, which one party declared 
" sufficient for the exigencies of their affairs;" and whether 
the assembly, or some other body, should make the alteration, 
if any were deemed necessary. 

In seeking redress from British taxation, and denying to 
parliament the right for its unlimited exercise, great unani- 
mity had pr^^vailed in Pennsylvania. The old proprietary and 
popular parlies forgot their animosities, and united to oppose 
a common oppression. Whilst bound with the band of loyalty 
to the king, this union appeared indissoluble, but when armed, 
resistance became necessary, still more after it had com- 
menced, strong repulsive qualities discovered themselves in 
the mass. The Quakers, opposed to every form of war, and 
strongly attached to the parent state, and to their church, and 
family connexions therein, shrunk with deep sensibility from 
the unnatural contest, and with horror from permanent sepa- 
ration and independence. The proprietaries and proprietary 
officers, their dependents and connexions, embracing a large 
proportion of the wealthy and distinguished of the province, 
beheld in a change of government the loss of official emolu- 



526 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1776 

ment and influence. The great body of the people, however, 
led by enterprising spirits, who were not only impatient of 
oppression, but who saw even in the vicissitudes of war the 
excitement they loved, and in independence successfully 
maintained, bright visions of glory and wealth, hailed with 
rapture the recommendation of congress to take the first irre- 
vocable step towards political emancipation. 

For these parties names were borrowed from English po- 
litics. The devotees of American freedom and independence 
assumed the title of whigs, whilst they designated their op- 
ponents by that of lories. 

Within a few days after congress had recommended the 
formation of new governments, the whigs assembled in town 
meeting, at Philadelphia, resolved,* " That the present as- 
sembly not having been elected for the purpose of forming 
a new government, could not proceed therein, without as- 
suming arbitrary power: That a protest be immediately en- 
tered by the people of the city and county of Philadelphia 
against the power of the house to carry into execution the 
resolve of congress: That a provincial assembly, elected by 
the people, be chosen for that purpose: That the present 
government of the province was not competent to the exigen- 
cies of its affairs; and that the meeting would abide by these 
resolutions, be the consequences what they might.j" 

In the protest adopted by the meeting, and presented to the 
assembly, the qualification of the latter to form a new consti- 
tution was denied, inasmuch as its chartered power was 
derived from their mortal enemy, the king, and its members 
elected by persons in the real or supposed allegiance of the 
crown, to the exclusion of many whom the late resolve of 
congress had rendered electors; and the assembly was in the 
immediate intercourse with a governor bearing the king's 
commission, his sworn representative, holding, and by oath 
obliged to hold official correspondence with his ministers, 
from which oath the people could not absolve him. " As we 
mean not," continued the protestors, '* to enter into any 

• May 20, f Of this meeting, Daniel Kobcideau was chairman. 



1776] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 527 

altercation with the house, we shall forbear enumerating the 
particular inconsistencies of its former conduct, and content 
ourselves with declaring that as a body of men, bound by- 
oaths of allegiance to our enemy, and influenced as many of 
its members are, by connexion with a pecuniary employ- 
ment under the proprietary, we have very alarming appre- 
hensions that a government modelled by them would be the 
means of subjecting us and our posterity to greater grievances 
than any we have hitherto experienced." 

The protestors did not object against the house'exercising 
its accustomed powers for the safety and convenience of the 
province, until a constitution founded on the authority of the 
people should be finally settled by a convention elected for 
that purpose, and until the proper officers and representatives 
should be chosen. For this purpose they declared their in- 
tention to apply to the committee of inspection and observa- 
tion of the city and liberties, whose services, they said, on 
all occasions, had been applied to the support of the rights of 
the people, to call a confererice of committees of the several 
counties, that they might direct the election of a provincial 
convention, consisting at least of a hundred members. " We 
are fully convinced," they concluded, " that our safety and 
happiness, next to the immediate providence of God, depends 
on our compliance with, and firmly supporting the resolve of 
congress, that thereby the union of the colonies may be pre- 
served inviolate." 

The change of government, however, was earnestly op- 
posed by many of the most respectable inhabitants. The 
committee of inspection and observation for the county of 
Philadelphia, presented an address to the assembly, declaring 
their satisfaction, in expressing their sentiments to the con- 
stitutional representatives of the province — their concern, 
that the ground of opposition to ministerial measures was to- 
tally changed — that, instead of forwarding a reconciliation 
with the parent state, on constitutional principles, a system 
had been adopted by some persons in the city and liberties, 
tending to a subversion of the constitution — and advising, 
that the assembly should religious-ly adhere to the instructions 



528 HISTOHY OF VENNSYLVANIA. [l776 

given to their delegates in congress; and they earnestly en- 
treated, that tlie assembly would, to the uttermost of their 
power, oppose the changing or altering in the least, their in- 
valuable constitution, under which they had experienced 
every happiness, and in support of which there was nothing 
just or reasonable they would not undertake.* 

Many of the inhabitants of the city and county of Philadel- 
phia, and other counties of the province, remonstrated against 
the protest — because the resolution of congress, on which it 
was based, applied to such colonial governments only as were 
insufficient to the exigencies of their affairs; and, by that re- 
solution, congress, who had never interfered with the domes- 
tic policy of the colonies, had left the representatives of the 
people sole judges of the efficiency of their governments — 
because the protest proposed a measure tending to disunion, 
and to damp the zeal of multitudes, who, having a high vene- 
ration for their civil and religious rights, as secured by char- 
ter, never conceived when they engaged, among other things, 
for the support of the charter rights of another colony, that 
they would be required to sacrifice their own — and because 
whatever temporary alteration in forms, circumstances might 
render expedient, could be effected by authority of the assembly, 
six parts in seven of that body having power to change the con- 
stitution. In conclusion, the remonstrators recommended to 
the assembly the example of South Carolina, which, when im- 
pelled by necessity, had adopted temporary regulations, to 
endure until " an accommodation of the unhappy differences 
between Great Britain and America could be obtained;" an 
event, though traduced and treated as rebels, they still pro- 
fessed earnestly to desire. 

But these attempts to arrest the progress of the province 
towards independence, were too feeble to resist the energy of 
the whigs. Whilst their opponents were supplicating the 

* Names of the committee of Philadelpliia county :— colonel Henry 
Hill, colonel Robert Lewis, Dr. Enoch Edwards, colonel William Hamil- 
ton, colonelJohn Bull, colonel Frederick Antes, major James Potts, major 
Robert Lollar, Joseph Matlier, Matthew Brooks, and Edward Bartholo- 
mew. 



1776] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 529 

assembly to preserve their charter, and their dependence on 
Great Britain, they were stripping that assembly of every 
power. Pursuant to the resolutions of the town meeting, 
the committee of inspection for the city and liberties com- 
municated to the committees of the several counties the pro- 
ceeding of that meeting, and invited them to meet in a pro- 
vincial convention; and, the more speedily to break every 
tie between them and the king, they endeavoured to prevent 
the administration of justice in his majesty's name, by re- 
questing the judges of the several county courts to suspend 
business until a new government should be formed. 

The provincial conference, composed of one hundred and 
eight members, assembled at Philadelphia on the eighteenth 
of June, and chose colonel Thomas M'Kean president, colonel 
Joseph Hart vice-president, and Jonathan B, Smith and Sa- 
muel C. Morris secretaries. The counties being unequally 
represented, it was determined that each should have a sin- 
gle vole. This body, highly respectable by the number and 
character of its members, resolved unanimously. That they 
fully approved of the resolution of congress, recommending 
a modification of the colonial governments: that the present 
government of the province was incompetent to the exigen- 
cies of its affairs; and that a provincial convention should be 
called for the express purpose of forming a new one: that 
such convention should consist of eight members from each 
county; elected by persons then qualified to vote for mem- 
bers of assembly, and by the military associators, being free- 
men of twenty-one years of age, resident in the province one 
year immediately preceding the election, who had paid or 
been assessed for a provincial or county tax; exempting, how- 
ever, the inhabitants of the county of Westmoreland from 
the last condition, as they had for the preceding three years 
been exonerated from the payment of taxes : that every per- 
son who had been published by a committee of inspection, 
or the committee of safety, as an enemy to the liberties of 
America, and had not been restored to the favour of his 
country, should be excluded from the exercise of the elective 
franchise: that every elector, if required, should take an oath 
67 



530 UISIOKY OF PF.NNSYLVANIA. ^77^ 

or affirmation, that he did not hold himself in allegiance to 
George the third, and would not by any means oppose the 
establishment of a free government within the province, by 
the convention about to be chosen, nor the measures adopted 
by congress against the tyranny of Great Britain: that any 
person qualified to vote for members of assembly might be 
chosen to the convention, provided he had been a resident 
for one year preceding his election, in the city or county 
for which he was elected, and should, before he took his seat, 
make and subscribe the following declaration of faith: "I 
do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ, his 
eternal son, the true God, and in the Holy Spirit, one God, 
blessed for evermore; atid do acknowledge the Holy Scrip- 
tures of the Old and New Testament to be given by Divine 
inspiration :" and should also take the following oath or af- 
firmation: "I do declare, that I do not hold myself bound 
to bear allegiance to George the third, king of Great Britain, 
kc, and that I will steadily and firmly, at all times, promote 
the most effectual means, according to the best of my skill 
and knowledge, to oppose the tyrannical proceedings of the 
king and parliament of Great Britain against the American 
colonies, and to establish and support a government in this 
province on the authority of the people only, &c. ; that I will 
oppose any measure that shall or may in the least interfere 
with, or obstruct, the religious principles or practices of any 
of the good people of tliis province, as heretofore enjoy- 
ed. "(1) And, to render the elections convenient to the 
people, the conference divided the province into proper dis- 
tricts, and appointed the necessary judges. 

The following short and temperate address to the people, 
reported by Messrs. Benjamin Rush, M'Kean, Hill, and 
Smith, was unanimously adopted. 

" Friends and countrymen — In obedience to the power 
we derived from you, we have fixed upon a mode of elect- 
ing a convention to form a government for the province of 
Pennsylvania under the authority of the people. 

(1) See Note 2 T, Appemlix, fur the names of the members of this con- 
ference. 



1776] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 531 

" Divine Providence is about to grant you a favour, which 
few people have ever enjoyed before, the privilege of choosing 
deputies to form a government under which you are to live. 
We need not inform you of the importance of the trust you 
are about to commit to them. Your liberty, safety, happi- 
ness, and every thing that posterity will hold dear to them, 
to the end of time, will depend upon their deliberations. It 
becomes you, therefore, to choose such persons only, to act 
for you, in the ensuing convention, as are distinguished for 
wisdom, integrity, and a firm attachment to the liberties of 
this province, as well as to the liberties of the United colo- 
nies in general. 

*' In order that your deputies may know your sentiments 
as fully as possible upon the subject of government, we beg 
that you would convey to them your wishes and opinions 
upon that head immediately after their election. 

" We have experienced an unexpected unanimity in our 
councils, and we have the pleasure of observing a growing 
unanimity among the people of the province. We beg that 
this brotherly spirit may be cultivated; and that you would 
remember that the pi;essnt unsettled state of the province 
requires that you should show forbearance, charity, and mo- 
deration to each other. We beg that 5^ou would endeavour 
to remove the prejudices of the weak and ignorant respecting 
the proposed change in our government, and assure them 
that it is absolutely necessary to secure property, liberty, and 
the sacred rights of conscience to every individual in the 
province. 

"The season of the year, and the exigencies of our colony, 
require despatch in the formation of a regular government. 
You will not therefore be surprised at our fixing the day for 
the election of deputies so early as the eighth of next July." 

On the very day* that congress adopted the resolution re- 
commending to the colonies to change their forms of govern- 
ment, the convention of Virginia resolved unanimously, that 
their delegates in congress should propose to that body to 

♦ ijth May. 



532 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1776 

declare the United colonies free and independent states, ab- 
solved from all allegiance to or dependence on the king and 
parliament of Great Britain. The delegates in congress from 
Pennsylvania, by their instructions of the ninth of Novem- 
ber, 1775, were expressly commanded to resist this measure, 
as they had been to oppose every proposition for changing 
the form of the colonial government. From this restriction 
they were, however, released by a resolution of the assembly, 
adopted at the instance of some petitioners from the county 
of Cumberland, authorizing them* " to concur with the other 
delegates in congress in forming such further contracts be- 
tween the United colonies, concluding such treaties with 
foreign kingdoms and states, and adopting such other mea- 
sures, as, upon a view of all circumstances, shall be judged 
necessary for promoting the liberty, safety, and interests of 
America; reserving to the people of this colony the sole and 
exclusive right of regulating its internal government and 
police." The reluctance with which the assembly granted 
this authority is demonstrated by their concluding observa- 
tions. " The happiness of these colonies," they said, "has, 
during the whole course of this fatal controversy, been our 
first wish; their reconciliation with Great Britain our next. 
Ardently have we prayed for the accomplishment of both. 
But if we must renounce the one or the other, we humbly 
trust in the mercies of the Supreme Governor of the universe, 
that we shall not stand condemned before his throne, if our 
choice is determined by that overruling law of self-preserva- 
tion, which his divine wisdom has thought proper to implant 
in the hearts of his creatures." The committee which re- 
ported these instructions consisted of Messrs. Dickenson, 
Morris, Reed, Clymer, Wilcocks, Pearson, and Smith. 

In imitation of the example of the convention of Virginia, 
the Pennsylvania conference also adopted a declaration of 
their willingness to concur in a vote of congress to declare 
the United colonies free and independent states. And they 
adopted measures for organizing six thousand militia, the 

• June 14. 



1776] HISTOUY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 533 

number assigned to Pennsylvania by congress as her quota of 
ten thousand militia, who were directed to form a flying camp 
for the middle colonies. The assembly had endeavoured to 
effect this object, but from the continued absence of their 
members, were compelled to declare their inability. 

The public mind throughout America was now fully pre- 
pared for a declaration of independence. The assemblies of 
Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York, which had display- 
ed the greatest reluctance, and forborne the longest, had 
now assented to this measure. The proposition was made in 
congress on the seventh of June, by Richard Henry Lee, of 
Virginia, and seconded by Mr. John Adams, that the " Unit- 
ed colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent 
states; and that all political connexion between them and the 
state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." 
This resolution was referred to a committee of the whole 
congress, where it was daily debated. 

In favour of independence, Messrs. Lee and Adams were 
the most distinguished speakers, the latter of whom has been 
characterized as the *' ablest advocat**-" of the measure; and 
their most formidable opponent was Mr. John Dickenson. 
The former earnestly appealed to the passions and the reason 
of their audience. They endeavoured to excite the love of 
fame by anticipations of the splendid rays of glory which 
would illustrate the memories of the founders of the first 
American empire — to arouse their indignation by recapitu- 
lating the injuries they had sustained, and their fruitless 
efforts to obtain redress, and to alarm their fears, first for their 
own safety should they be subjugated and exposed to the 
vengeance of the ministry, and secondly, for their country, 
whose corruption and degeneracy would be assured when 
chained to the destinies of Great Britain. They descanted 
on the inconsistencies of their present situation, in which 
their military officers commanded neither respect nor obedi- 
ence, and their soldiers were destitute of confidence and zeal. 
Thus enfeebled at home, they would be disregarded abroad, 
and though foreign nations would gladly avail themselves of 
the advantages of an unrestricted commercial intercourse with 



534 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. ["1776 

independent America, and would promptly coalesce with her 
to reduce the extravagant and insolent power of Britain, yet 
they would disdain a union with rebellious subjects, whose 
slavish fears procrastinated the assumption of that place in the 
community of nations, which God and nature had destined 
for them, and towards which their way was now open and 
direct. Let independence be proclaimed, a new and lofty 
spirit would animate the people to the most daring deeds, and 
give them fortitude to endure the greatest misfortunes. The 
civil power would be steadily and consistently exercised, the 
army would become confident, patient, and obedient, and 
foreign nations, undeterred by fears of reconciliation between 
Great Britain and America, would freely give their aid. 

" Why, then," it was said, " do we hesitate to give being 
to the American republic ? Let her arise, not to devastate or 
'conquer, but to re-establish the reign of peace and the laws. 
The eyes of Europe are upon us. She demands of us a living 
example of freedom, that may contrast by the felicity of the 
citizens with the ever increasing tyranny which desolates her 
shores. She invites us to prepare an asylum where the un- 
happy may find solace, and the persecuted repose,"* 

In replying to these views, Mr. Dickenson endeavoured to 
allay the excitement which the advocates of independence had 
produced. He deprecated the unfortunate influence of popu- 
lar feeling in seasons of public commotion, when, as he con- 
tended, the party of wisdom and equity would commonly be 
found in the minority. He condemned the course of proceed- 
ing in congress as tumultuous, designed to coerce the opinions 
of the members, and to drive them precipitately to the most 
serious and important decisions. " Prudence," he said, " re- 
quired that they should not abandon certain for uncertain 
objects. Two hundred years of happiness, and present pros- 
perity, resulting from English laws, and the union with Great 
Britain, demonstrated that America could be wisely governed 
by the king and parliament. It was not as independent, but 
as subject states, not as a republic, but as a monarchy, that the 



notta. 



17763 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 535 

colonies had attained to power and greatness. What then/' 
he exclaimed, " is the object of these chimeras hatched in the 
days of discord and war ? Shall the transports of fury sway 
us more than the experience of ages, and induce us to destroy, 
in a moment of anger, the work which had been cemented and 
tried by time.^ The restraining power of the king and par- 
liament was indispensable to protect the colonies from dis- 
union and civil war; and the most cruel hostility which Britain 
could wage against them, the surest mode of compelling 
obedience, would be to leave ihem a prey to their own jealou- 
sies and animosities. For, if the dread of English arms were 
removed, province would rise against province, city against 
city, and the weapons now assumed to combat the common 
enemy would be turned against themselves. 

"Necessity would then compel them to seek the tutelary 
power they had rashly abjured: and, if again received under 
its segis, it wo'ild be no longer as freemen, but as slaves. In 
their infancy, and without experience, they had given no 
proof of ability to walk without a guide; and, judging of 
the future by the past, they must infer, that their concord 
would not outlive their danger. Even when supported by 
the powerful hand of England, the colonists had abandoned 
themselves to discords, and sometimes to violence, from the 
paltry motives of territorial limits, and distant jurisdictions: 
what then might they not expect, when their minds were 
heated, ambition roused, and arms in the hands of all. 

"If union with England gave them means of internal 
peace, it was not less necessary to procure the respect of 
foreign powers. Hitherto, their intercourse with the world 
had been maintained under the name and arms of England. 
Not as Americans — a people scarce known — but as English- 
men, they had obtained entrance and favour in foreign ports: 
separated from her, the nations would treat them with dis- 
dain, the pirates of Europe and Africa would assail their 
vessels, massacre their seamen, or subject them to perpetual 
slavery." 

Mr. Dickenson admitted, that the proceedings of the 
British ministry had, for twelve years, savoured strongly 



536 IIISTOIIY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1776 

of tyranny; but, he asserted, that the nation already repent- 
ed its course, and was prepared to retrace its steps; that the 
troops poured on the American shores, were not designed 
to establish tyranny, but to compel the colonies to subscribe 
conditions of accommodation. He treated as chimerical the 
suggestion, that the British government had determined to 
erect a despotism in America; since her distance from the 
seat of government, and the nature of the country, and cha- 
racter of her people, would induce the ministry to found 
their power on moderation and liberty, rather than on rigour 
and oppression. He insisted, that an uninterrupted succession 
of victories and triumphs could alone constrain England to 
acknowledge American independence, and hope of this was 
denied by the instability of fortune: if she had smiled at Lex- 
ington and Boston, she had frowned at Quebec, and on the 
campaign in Canada. 

He contended, that, by changing the object of the war, 
the union of the people would be destroyed: all could see 
the necessity of opposing the pretensions of ministers, but 
not that of fighting for independence. By seeking the dis- 
memberment of the empire, instead of the revocation of ob- 
noxious laws, they would justify the ministers, merit the name 
of rebels, and arm the whole British nation against them. 
He derided the hope of assistance from foreign nations, who 
were too deeply interested in the maintainance of peace and 
tranquillity in their own colonies, to countenance rebellion, 
even in those of an enemy: and could their assistance be pur- 
chased, it must be bought too dearly, by large territorial sacri- 
fices, by surrender of the fisheries, and the most important 
rights of navigation. 

The advantages of a republican form of government had 
been strongly urged, among the reasons for declaring inde- 
pendence. Forbearing to inquire what form of government 
ought to be preferred, Mr. Dickenson insisted that the Eng- 
lish had found repose in monarchy only : that in popular re- 
publics, themselves, monarchical power was so indispensable 
to cement society, that it had been invariably introduced, 
under some title or other: that, in the English constitution,, 



1776] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 537 

which was the fruit of all anterior time, this power was so 
tempered, that the monarch was restrained from seizing ab- 
solute power, whilst the people were preserved from anarchy. 
In America they would have to dread, should the counter- 
poise of monarchy be removed, that the democratic power 
would prostrate all barriers, and involve the state in ruin, 
and that then they should fulfil the destiny of all ill-balanced 
democracies, by some ambitious chieftain seizing the reins 
of government, and annihilating liberty for ever. 

Happily, these prophetic denunciations of a sincere but 
timid patriot have not been fulfilled. He lived to discover 
that his fears were groundless, and to aid in founding a sys- 
tem of government, which has insured union, freedom, and 
tranquillity at home, and a just and sincere respect abroad. 

On the first day of July, a vote in committee of the whole 
was taken in congress, upon the resolution declaratory of in- 
dependence. It was approved by all the colonies except 
Pennsylvania and Delaware. Seven of the delegates from V 
the former were present, of whom four voted against it, Mr. 
Rodney, one of the delegates from the latter, was absent, and 
the other two, Thomas M'Kean and George Read, were di- 
vided in opinion, M'Kean voting in favour, and Read against 
the resolution. At the request of a colony, the proposition, 
having been reported to the house, was postponed until the 
next day, when it was finally adopted and entered upon the 
journals.* 

Pending the consideration of this innportant question, a 
committee, consisting of Messrs. Jefferson, John Adams, 
Franklin, Sherman, and R. R. Livingston, was appointed to 
prepare a declaration of independence. Mr. Adams and 
Mr. Jefferson, were appointed a sub-committee, and the ori- 
ginal draft of this eloquent manifesto was made by Mr. 
Jefferson. It was adopted by the committee without amend- 
ment, and reported to congress on the twenty-eighth of June. 
On the fourth of July, having received some alterations, it 
was sanctioned by the vote of every colony. t 

* Journals. f Ibid. 

68 



S.IS HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [ 1 776 

Two of the members from Pennsylvania, Morris and Dick- 
enson, were absent; Franklin, Wilson, and Morton, voted 
for, and Willing and Humphrey against it. To secure the 
vote of Delaware, Mr. M'Kean sent an express for Mr. Rod- 
ney, who, though eighty miles from Philadelphia, arriv6d in 
time to unite with him in the vote.* 

The declaration was directed to be engrossed, and, on the 
second of August, 1776, was signed by all the members then 
present, and by some who were not members at the time of 
its adoption. Among the latter were colonels George Ross 
and James Smith, Dr. Benjamin Rush, George Clymer, and 
George Taylor, who had been elected by the Pennsylvania 
convention, in the place of Messrs. Dickenson, Willing, 
Humphries, Biddle, and Allen, who had opposed it. 

The transition of public feeling, from devoted loyalty, to 
the invincible desire of independence, appears to have been 
suddenly effected. But the contemptuous refusal of the king 
to answer the last petition of congress, and the hostile mea- 
sures adopted by parliament, had destroyed, not only the 
hope, but even the desire, of reconciliation. Insult had been 
added to oppression. A spirited and enlightened people, 
possessing wealth, and familiar with the use of arms, could 
not hesitate to disclaim allegiance which fettered their ener- 
gies, and degraded them in their own eyes, and in the esti- 
mation of the world. Had there existed, however, no other 
causes of jealousy and dislike to the parent state, than the 
late revenue laws, and the means used to enforce them, the 
declaration of independence would probably have been de- 
ferred, and more reluctantly made. But, in truth, Anglo- 
America had, almost unknown to herself, grown into a sepa- 
rate nation. Her interests were not only no longer identified 
with those of Great Britain, but had become distinct and op- 
posed to her policy. That policy, with the most unfeeling 
disregard for colonial welfare, had, by many laws, circum- 
scribed the industry and enterprise" of the provinces in arts 

• Pitkin's U. S. Niles' Reg. vol. 12, p. 305. 



irre] history of Pennsylvania. 539 

and manufactures, and debarred them from the profits justly- 
due to their commercial skill and capital. These restrictions, 
had not means been found to evade them, would have pro- 
duced a crisis like that in which the colonies now struggled; 
they had been deeply felt before the late war with France, 
but complaints were suppressed, from a sense of inability 
successfully to resist. Like the fires of a volcano, the indig- 
nation of the colonists glowed secretly but intensely, acquiring 
new force daily, and awaiting only some extraneous influ- 
ence to produce eruption. The war had taught the pro- 
vinces to appreciate their wealth and military power, and 
the means to use them; and had accustomed the people to 
bear taxation for their defence. With this knowledge, the 
spirit of the colonists had risen, and their complaints were 
more freely uttered; and now, when called to resistance by 
every patriotic feeling, they relied with confidence on re^ 
sources which had been thus developed. These were dis- 
played in the most advantageous lights by able, zealous, and 
eloquent writers, through newspapers and pamphlets, amongst 
whom Thomas Paine was eminently distinguished. This 
author, under the name of " Common Sense," addressed the 
people in a style adapted to all capacities: he excited the 
enmity of the religious against a kingly government, by 
quotations from the Old Testament; animated the proud and 
the ambitious, by contrasting the narrow island of Great Bri- 
tain and her present power, with the broad continent of 
America and its future greatness; and satisfied all, by the 
most specious arguments, of the advantages and practicability 
.of independence. 

The convention for forming a constitution for the state of 
Pennsylvania, met at Philadelphia, on Monday, the fifteenth 
of July, and elected Dr. Benjamin Franklin president, colonel 
George Ross vice-president, John Morris secretary, and Jacob 
Garrigucs assistant-secretary. By solemn resolution, they 
directed Divine service to be performed before them, by 
the reverend William White, since bishop of Pennsylvania; 
and, offering to Almighty God their praises and thanksgiv- 
ings for the manifold mercies, and the peculiar interposition 



540 HISTORY or I'F.NNSYLVANIA. [ J 776 

of his special providence, in behalf of the injured and op 
pressed United States, they prayed for his divine grace and 
assistance in the important and arduous task committed to 
them.(l) 

From the instant of its organization, the convention as- 
sumed the whole political power of the state. Among its 
first acts, was the appointment of delegates to congress,* and 
the preparation of their instructions. They were enjoined 
constant and punctual attendance in congress — to cultivate 
and strengthen the union of the states, until a just, equal, and 
perpetual confederation should be effected — to use their ut- 
most power and influence for the establishment of a navy, 
which was necessary to every trading nation, and least dan- 
gerous and expensive to the liberties of mankind. They 
were forbidden to enter into any treaty with Great Britain 
or other foreign power, but as free and independent states — 
and were permitted, when Great Britain should acknowledge 
the United States free and independent, to treat with her, in 
conjunction with the other states, concerning peace, amity, 
and commerce, on just and equal terms. 

The great labour of forming the constitution was not com- 
pleted until Saturday, the twenty-eighth day of September. 
On that day it was read in convention for the last time, signed 
by the president and every member, and committed to the 
charge of the council of safety, with directions to deliver it 
to the general assembly of the state, at their first meeting, 
immediately after they should have chosen their speaker. 
The history of the formation of that instrument, and exposi- 
tion of its character, does not fall within the limits allotted 
for this volume. 

The power of the assembly had been in a great measure 
taken away by the conference, and was, as already men- 
tioned, wholly assumed by the convention. The people had 

(1) For the names of the members of convention, see Note 2 U, Appen- 
dix. 

* Names of delegates: Messrs. Franklin, Morton, Morris, Wilson, George 
Ross, James Smith, Benjamin Rush, Georg-e Clymer, and George Taylor, 
esqrs. 



17763 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 541 

become suspicious of the design of many of its members, 
and impatient of the olden forms. The military association 
of the city and liberties of Philadelphia, by its board of offi- 
cers, and committee of privates, openly denied its power, 
and protested against its exercise in the nomination of briga- 
dier-generals of militia, whose appointment by the colony had 
been recommended by congress. In their protest, the board 
of officers preserved regard for decorum; but the privates re- 
proached the assembly with the religious sentiments of the 
Quaker members, and with devotion to Great Britain. This 
was unjust: for though many members of the house wanted 
that ardent zeal which distinguished the leading patriots, the 
resolutions of congress were always carried into effisct, so far 
as the assembly possessed the means. 

On the fourteenth of June, the house adjourned to the 
twenty-sixth of August: in the meantime independence was 
declared: when the day to which the house stood adjourned 
had arrived, a quorum did not appear; and, after two days, 
they adjourned until the twenty-third of September. On 
that day, a quorum assembled, but no other business was 
done, save reading and approving the report of the commit- 
tee on public accounts, and reprobating certain ordinances 
passed by the convention — imposing a state tax, and a contri- 
bution from non-associators, and authorizing the arrest and 
impriso«iment of suspicious persons — as assumptions of power, 
unwarranted by the instructions from the people, and dangerous 
to freedom : their reprobation was just, for no body, other 
than the assembly, was vested with such power. The con- 
vention was created for the express, and, as may be gathered 
from the resolutions of the conference, for the exclusive, pur- 
pose of framing a constitution. But amid revolutions, as 
amid arms, the laws are powerless. Ordinary remedies are 
not applicable to extraordinary cases, Forms, and minor 
rights, usefully regarded in peace, must yield to the stern 
exigencies of necessity, requiring instant adaptation of means 
to resist or avert calamities, which the delays of discussion 
would make irremediable. 



342, HISTORY OF PRNNSYLVAMA. [1776 

The assembly of the province of Pennsylvania, however, 
distinguished, for nearly a century, by the love of order and 
devotion to liberty, expired on the twenty-sixth of Septem- 
ber, 1776, breathing remonstrances against the violations of 
the rights of the people. (1) 

(1) For names of members of the assembly and other officers, see note 
2 X, Appendix. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Review of the province* • • •Government — How constituted- • » ' 
Legislative powers* •••Judiciary* •••Supreme courts* •■Courts 
of common pleas****Quarter sessions* •*• Admiralty courts 
....Land office* ***Officers of the government* •* .Laws* ••• 
Derived from England****In relation to personal rights**.* 
Naturalization — Freemen and slaves*** 'Servants* ***Politi- 
cal rights**«*Religious rights*** -Relative rights* •••Laws re- 
lative to real estate* •••Personal estate*««*Remedies****Pre- 
ventive and compensatory* •** Arrest* ---Forms of action**** 
Trial* * * * Sanction of evidence* * * *Execution — Insolvents* * * * 
Criminal laws****Merit of Penn in relation thereto* ***Pun- 
ishments • * * * Change of criminal code* * • * Religion* • • *Quakers 

Episcopalians* •* -Roman catholics Presbyterians — 

Baptists* ***Menonists** •*Dunkards*** *Swenckfelders* ***So- 
ciety of the woman in the wilderness* •••f/'mYas Fratrum or 
Moravians****Finance of Pennsylvania* ***Commerce and 
manufactures* •**Literature and science****Early establish- 
ment of schools* •**Printing**'^CoIlege****Philosophical so- 
ciety***. Literary men — Mathematics and astronomy* ••• 
Botany and natural history****Medicine****Moral and natu- 
ral philosophy* •••Poetry. 

Having completed our history to the period at which 
Pennsylvania became independent of the parent state, we 
shall endeavour to present a concise view of her actual condi- 
tion at that time, in relation to her government, laws, religion, 
finance, commerce, manufactures, and literature. 

I. In framing their governments, the colonists naturally 
looked for a model in the constitution of England, which 
they were disposed to copy so far as circumstances would 
permit. But their situation led them to regard the democratic 



5H HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1776 

portion of that constitution with the greatest favour; and when 
not restricted by their charters, or controlled by the royal 
prerogative, they succeeded in their endeavours to circum- 
scribe by narrow limits the powers of their governors. 
Hence in many of the provinces the royal power was faintly 
reflected by the king's lieutenants, or the proprietary depu- 
ties, and the councils of these officers, sometimes endow- 
ed with legislative rights, had little resemblance to the 
aristocratic branch of the British government. At three thou- 
sand miles distance from the throne, its splendours were those 
of boreal lights, pale, cold, and fanciful, having little influence 
on the bosoms and business of men. Compelled to rely upon 
their individual energies, the provincialists appreciated each 
other by their personal qualities, and contemned the preten- 
sions of mere rank and ostentation. Cut off from intimate 
association with the mother country, neither asking nor 
needing her assistance, they exercised their rights as in a 
state of nature, and in some cases actually formed that origi- 
nal compact which philosophers have fancied the basis of all 
political society. 

Such was emphatically the constitution of Pennsylvania. 
It is true, she was rendered dependent upon England by those 
provisions of the royal charter, which reserved the power to 
repeal her laws, to revise her judicial decrees, and to regulate 
her trade. But these restrictions for many years bore lightly. 
Her efforts to promote the public happiness might be disap- 
proved, but not prohibited. If a successful experiment were 
discouraged by the veto of the king, the province did not 
forego its prosecution. The charter required the laws to be 
presented within five years from their enactment for the 
royal assent. But a convenient negligence sometimes allowed 
a great part of this time to elapse before presentation; and a 
happy oblivion occasionally prevented them from ever reach- 
ing the royal council. If, when examined, they were dis- 
allowed, a modification in some unimportant particular afforded 
sufficient reason for their re-enactment. The laws forbidding 
exportation of colonial productions to foreign countries were 



1776] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 545 

rarely enforced, and the colony for two-thirds of a century 
suffered little actual restraint on its export trade. 

Save the restrictions of which we have spoken, the royal 
charter gave unlimited power to the people for self-govern- 
ment; authorizing " any laws whatsoever for the raising of 
money for public uses, or for any other end, appertaining 
either unto the public state, peace or safety of the country, 
or unto the private utility of particular persons." Under this 
broad authority the several provincial constitutions of 1681, 
1683, 1696, and 1701, were framed. These were termed 
"charters of privileges granted by the proprietary;" but 
were, in fact, supreme and fundamental laws, framed by the 
consent, and with the assistance of the people. The charter 
of 1701 lodged the legislative power in the assembly and go- 
vernor, or his lieutenant: In the absence of the governor-in- 
chief, his whole authority devolved upon his substitute. For 
some years the proprietary claimed to have a voice in legisla- 
tion, whilst absent from the province; and he instructed his 
representatives to pass no laws without his assent. This was 
considered by the people as unconstitutional and oppressive, 
and was, after repeated struggles, abandoned. But the right 
to restrain their deputies by general instructions was perti- 
naciously retained by the proprietaries during the continuance 
of their power, though opposed by the popular voice, and 
finally producing an earnest effort to abolish the proprietary 
government. With other executive powers, the deputy pos- 
sessed that of appointing to office, and of removing at plea- 
sure, even such officers as were directly appointed by the 
proprietaries. Of the latter, the case of secretary Logan was 
a signal instance. William Penn occasionally nominated 
persons to office when represented by a resident deputy, and 
directed his appointments to be confirmed under the great 
seal. After his death, I find no instance of such exercise of 
proprietary power except'in the commissions to Logan. 

The right to originate bills belonged to the assembly alone. 
The governor might recommend such measures as he deemed 
proper, and might amend or reject bills sent for his approba- 
tion. His council, not recognised by the charter of 1701, 
69 



51-6 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1776 

had no distinct voice in the government. It was the creature 
of his pleasure, composed of such persons as he chose to select 
for his advisers. During the life of William Penn, and his 
immediate successors, the deputy-governors were directed to 
follow the recommendations of the council, consisting of the 
personal friends of William Penn, or of such as were devoted 
to the interests of the family. Sir William Keith was the 
first, and perhaps the only governor who openly resisted this 
subjection. 

Before the purchase of Penn, proper and convenient courts 
were established on the western shore of the Delaware, from 
which, in important cases, an appeal lay to the governor in 
council at New York. By the "frame of government" 
\\'\^v adopted in England in 1782, the governor and council were 
empowered to erect, from time to time, standing courts of 
justice, in such places and numbers as they should judge con- 
venient; and the governor was authorized to appoint the 
judges annually from a dual list presented by the councils. 
But no courts were established under this power, the pro- 
prietor having reserved to himself the first appointments of all 
officers. By that charter the council might try impeachments 
presented by the assembly; they assumed, however, in many 
instances, other judicial authority. This irregularity is ex- 
tenuated by the consideration, that it was impracticable in that 
stage of the province, to preserve a proper division of the 
political powers. By the emendation of the '< frame" in 
16S3, the right of appointing thejudgcs and other officers was 
reserved to William Penn during his life; but his successors, 
with the council, were empowered to erect courts, and ap- 
point judges, in the manner provided by the original consti- 
tution of 1682. But this power of the council was recognised 
neither by the charter of 1696, nor by that of 1701. 

It was in the power of the assembly at all times to establish 
the judicature by law, and many contentions arose from their 
attempts at this object. The great law created the first courts 
of the province, which were remodelled after the adoption of 
the charter of 1701, by an act prepared by David Lloyd. 
This act was repealed by the king in council, probably at the 



1776] HISTOUY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 547 

instance of William Penn, on the suggestion of secretary 
Logan, that he might erect courts by his proprietary power, 
or obtain the passage of a law more consonant with his wishes 
and interests.* And the governor and assembly differing 
widely in their opinions on this subject, the courts were 
opened under an ordinance of the former, by which they 
were continued until the year 1710, when they were esta- 
blished by a law sanctioned by governor Gookin. 

This act erected a supreme court, with law and equity 
sides; courts of common pleas also, with legal and equitable 
jurisdiction, and courts of quarter sessions, holden by the 
justices, or any three of them, in the several counties; orphans' 
courts for protecting the interests of minors, and regulating 
the affairs of decedents, which had been early established, 
were new modelled by act of 1712. Courts of oyer and ter- 
miner, for the trial of felonies of death, were occasionally 
holden under commissioners specially constituted. The act 
of 1710 having been repealed by the king, was supplied by 
three acts passed in 1715; which, being also repealed in 1719, 
were followed by the act of 1722, laying permanently the 
foundations of the colonial judiciary. 

By the last act, and the supplement of May, 1767, the 
equity jurisdiction of the supreme court, and courts of com- 
mon pleas, was discontinued. The supreme court, consisting 
of four judges, one of whom was distinguished in his com-' 
mission by the name of chief justice, and any two of whom 
might hold the court, was empowered to hold two sessions 
in bank annually, in the city of Philadelphia; to issue writs 
of habeas corpus, certiorari, and writs of error, and all re- 
medial and other writs and process, grantable by virtue of 
their office. It had appellate jurisdiction over all (he inferior 
courts, in criminal, and in civil cases above fifty pounds in 
value, and was authorized to administer justice and exercise 
the powers granted, as fully as the courts of king's bench, 
common pleas, and exchequer at Westminster might do. 
The judges were required to go the circuit of the several 

'■ Logan iMSS. 



S-tS HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1776 

counties twice a year, if necessary, to try the issues in fact 
depending therein, and the circuit courts might be holden by 
one judge. They were empowered to hold courts of oyer 
and terminer from time to time. The prothonotary of this 
court was commissioned by the governor, on the recom- 
mendation of the judges, but the prothonotaries and clerks of 
the other courts were appointed at the pleasure of the go- 
vernor. 

The courts of quarter sessions were holden by the justices 
of the peace of the respective counties; but the courts of com- 
mon pleas, by judges specially commissioned for that purpose, 
usually selected from the justices, three of whom were of 
the quorum. 

The act of 1722 was confirmed by an act passed in 1727, 
except that the supreme court was forbidden to issue process, 
unless in criminal cases. The latter act was, soon after its 
enactment, repealed by the king in council. 

Appeals were allowed from the supreme and admiralty 
courts to the king in council, by the act of twenty-eighth of 
May, 1715, on recognisance given to prosecute the same 
with effect within eighteen months. 

A vice-admiralty court was established in the province by 
the authority of the crown, for the province of Pennsylva- 
nia, and the counties of Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex; and a 
court of admiralty having jurisdiction, in cases of appeals, 
from the provinces of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylva- 
nia, Maryland, and Virginia. 

The disposition of the lands of the province, and the admi- 
nistration of the land-office, though appertaining to the estate 
of the proprietaries, were so much interwoven with the 
public and political relations of the colony, that they demand 
our attention in a political survey. 

It is to be regretted that some general and accurate system 
for the location of lands had not been adopted at the settle- 
ment of the province, and undeviatingly continued, thereby 
avoiding that intricacy in Pennsylvania titles, which has 
been detrimental to the increase of her population. Unfor- 



1776] HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 549 

tunately, no system whatever can be traced in the records of 
the land office. 

By force of the royal charter, William Penn and his sue- 
^cesso^s became undoubted lords of the soil, subject to the 
duty of extinguishing the Indian title, which justice, hu- 
manity, and their contract with their vendees, imposed upon 
them. They had the right to dispose of lands in such man- 
ner, and at such price, as they deemed proper; and the offi- 
cers of the land office were their agents, controllable by their 
will. The contract with the first purchasers in some degree 
qualified this power. Wherever they desired to ^^ sit toge- 
ther," and their quantity of land amounted to five thousand 
acres, they might cast their lot or township together; and the 
appropriation of lands by William Penn, for his proper use, 
was confined to the reservation, by lot, of ten thousand acres 
ill every hundred thousand, the residue being open to the 
choice of purchasers. But these qualifications were in favour 
of the first purchasers only. Subsequently, the proprietary 
might withdraw from the general mass any lands not pre- 
viously appropriated to individuals; and his surveyors were 
instructed to locate for him five hundred acres, in every town- 
ship of five thousand, in addition to the proprietary tenth of 
all lands laid out. 

The landed interests were confided to " commissioners of 
the land office," a secretary, receiver-general, auditor-general, 
and surveyor-general. The commissioners were authorized, 
from time to time, to purchase lands from the Indians — to 
grant lands for such sums and quit-rents as they should deem 
reasonable — to sell such lands as, on a re-survey, were found 
intervening, concealed, vacant, or surplus — to erect ma- 
nors, with jurisdictions thereunto annexed. There is no 
regular account of the grant of lands made prior to the year 
1700. Between that time and the year 1767, their number 
is stated to have been about seven thousand. The usual 
mode of grant before 1700, was by lease and release of unlo- 
cated quantities, to be afterwards surveyed I These deeds 
were not always recorded.* 

' Statement of J. renn on minutes of council. 



550 IIISTOUY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [l776 

The commissioners declined to exercise their power of 
erecting manors. Nor were manors^ technically speaking, 
ever erected in the province; but this name was given to 
the proprietary tenths, and other large surveys made for 
their use. It is not probable that manorial courts and cus- 
toms would have been tolerated by the people. 

Generally, all lands were subject to quit-rents, originally 
reserved to compensate the proprietary for his extraordinary 
charge in the administration of the government, or, as Wil- 
liam Penn subsequently declared, for his maintainance, in 
case he should fail to receive a public support. The amount 
of this rent was various. The first purchasers paid one shil- 
ling sterling per hundred acres; and lands taken up by, or for, 
servants, paid four shillings per hundred. Sometimes the 
rent was a bushel of wheat, or one shilling sterling per hun- 
dred acres, which was termed the common rent; but a subse- 
quent and most usual rent was simply one penny sterling the 
acre. 

Inchoate titles to lands were obtained, by procuring from 
the land office a warrant, authorizing the survey of a desig- 
nated quantity; by settlement and improvement, whence grew 
the right of pre-emption; by license, when the peopling of 
some particular spot was deemed particularly advantageous; 
or by application for particular lands entered in the books of 
the land office. When lands were settled and improved, as 
was the case in a multitude of instances, the improver applied 
for a warrant for a certain quantity, including his improve- 
ment. On payment of two-thirds of the purchase money, a 
warrant was made out by the secretary of the land office, 
under the seal of the office, and signed by the commissioner 
of property, which being recorded in the surveyor-gene- 
ral's office, a copy was sent to a deputy-surveyor, with or- 
ders to make a survey. When the survey was made, a 
draft was returned into the surveyor-general's office, and 
a certificate entered in the secretary's office; and, upon 
payment of the remainder of the purchase money, with 
interest and arrearages of quit-rent, a patent was issued by 



1776] HISTOnV OF TENNSYLVANIA. 551 

the secietary, under the great seal, signed by the commis- 
sioners. When a purchase was intended of uncultivated 
lands, an application was made to the secretary, by filing the 
location, descriptive of the lands, and their situation, which 
was numbered in the order of the entry. These descriptions, 
as in the case of warrants, were sent to the surveyor-general's 
office, whence orders for survey were issued. On returns 
to these orders, warrants issued from the secretary's office 
to the survej'or-general, to accept the survey, and certify it 
to the secretary, who, on payment of the purchase money, 
granted the patent. In addition to these modes of obtaining 
titles, every indication of the assent of the pi-oprietaries or 
their agents to the occupation of lands, gave an equitable 
right. The uncertain evidences of property, arising from the 
want of deeds, and registry of claims, occasioned much liti- 
gation, and was productive of extensive frauds on the pro- 
prietaries, to avoid the payment of interest, or obtain a dimi- 
nution in the price, when its fluctuation would benefit the 
})urchaser. 

The price of lands varied with times and circumstances. 
Before 1713, the common price was five pouads the hun- 
dred acres, and a bushel of wheat, or one shilling sterling, 
quit-rent. In 1713 it advanced to seven pounds ten shil- 
lings. From 1712 to 1715, lands at Oley and Conestoga 
were sold at ten pounds, and in 1730 at fifteen pounds the 
hundred; and in some cases at a still higher rate. From 
1732, the price was more uniform and steady, at fifteen 
pounds ten shillings the hundred, and a half penny sterling 
per acre rent, which continued till the year 1768, excepting 
a variation about and between the years 1761 and 1763, when 
warrants were issued at nine pounds the hundred; but the 
quit-rents were increased to one penny sterling the acre. 
After 1768, lands obtained from the Indians by the treaty of 
that year were offered at five pounds per hundred, and one 
penny per acre per annum quit-rent. 

If we include the land office in the political constitution of 
the colony, the officers of the government consisted of the 
governor and council, the secretary of the province, who was 



552 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1776 

ordinarily the clerk of the council, the provincial treasurer, 
attorney-general, register-general, master of the rolls; the 
speaker and clerk of the assembly, and agent for the province 
in Great Britain; the judges of the supreme court, and the 
judges of the courts of common pleas and quarter sessions, 
and of the orphans' court; the prothonotaries and clerks of 
courts, and clerks of the peace ; the justices of the peace and 
officers of inspection ; the secretary of the land office ; receiver- 
general and keeper of the great seal; auditor-general and 
surveyor-general; sheriffs and coroners, elected triennially in 
the respective counties, and commissioned by the governor 
from a dual return ; two county commissioners for each coun- 
ty, chosen for three years; and six assessors, chosen annually, 
to estimate, assess, and collect the necessary sums for county 
purposes, which the commissioners were authorized to dis- 
burse according to law; and county treasurers, appointed by 
the commissioners and assessors. The counties were divided 
into townships, in each of which the people annually elected 
one overseer of the highways, who was charged with the 
repairs of the township roads, and with the levying of the 
necessary funds therefor; in each township also two overseers 
of the poor were annually appointed by the magistrates, who 
were authorized to provide for the poor, and to raise, by tax, 
the necessary sums for their support. 

II. As British subjects, the colonists claimed the laws of 
England, so far as they were adapted to their circumstances, 
as their birth-right. The royal charter provided, that "the 
laws for regulating and governing of property, for the descent 
and enjoyment of lands, for the enjoyment and succession of 
goods and chattels, and likewise as to felonies, should con- 
tinue the same as they should be for the time being by the 
general course of the law of England, until they were altered 
by the proprietary and freemen." The power of legislation 
was therefore almost unlimited. The vague restriction inserted 
in the charter, that the laws should be *' not repugnant, nor 
contrary, but (so far as conveniently may be,) agreeable with 
the laws of England," was scarce felt; and certainly was 
not deemed of much force, since the first laws adopted by the 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 553 

tolony differed widely from those of the parent state. The 
adaptation of the laws of England to the exigencies of the 
colony, was a work of slow and uncertain lahour. It is an 
incident of the common law, from its plastic and mutable na- 
ture, that the courts charged with its administration should 
possess extensive legislative power. In a new colony the 
courts were required to decide in almost every case, whether 
the law upon which its adjudication was claimed, was suitable 
to the condition of the province. Hence, the ordinary legis- 
lative power of the courts was necessarily greatly enlarged, 
and a distressing uncertainty as to the law must have pre- 
vailed, since the law which governed the case was fiist de- 
clared after the case was made. 

In the concise review, which we propose of the laws of the 
province, we shall follow their usual division unto such as 
relate to persons, to things, and to actions; reserving for sepa- 
rate consideration those which regard crimes and their pun- 
ishment. 

Persons are commonly divided into natural and artificial, 
or bodies corporate. Natural persons were either subjects or 
aliens. The latter were converted into subjects by naturali- 
zation, by modes which varied at different periods. By 
the charters of 1683 and 1696, lands purchased by alien in- 
habitants of the province, dying before naturalization, passed 
to their wives and children, as in the case of subjects. But 
this provision was not continued by the charter of 1701, nor 
supplied by law before the revolution. An act of naturalization 
was among the first laws of the province. It extended the 
rights of subjects to '< all strangers and foreigners living with- 
in the province, holding land in fee according to the law of 
a freeman, who should solemnly promise, in their respective 
county courts, within three months from the passage of the 
act, upon record, faith and allegiance to the king, and full 
obedience to the proprietary." It provided also, " that when 
at any time any foreigner should make his request to the pro- 
prietary and governor for such freedom, he might be admitted 
on the conditions above expressed, paying on his admission 
twenty shillings sterling." This act remained in force until 
70 



554 HI3T0UY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

1700, when it was repealed, among other laws at that period, 
but was supplied by another act of like tenor, which was also 
repealed in 1705. In 1691, sixty-four of the first inhabitants 
of Germantown were naturalized by the existing law, but the 
same persons were also included in a special act of naturaliza- 
tion passed in 1708. From 1705 to 1740, there appears to 
have been no general provision on this subject; but special 
acts were passed from time to time naturalizing the persons 
named in them. In 1740 a uniform rule of naturalization 
was introduced into the colonies by act of parliament, de- 
claring that all persons born out of the legiance of the king, 
residing seven years in a colony, taking the oaths, (or in case 
of a Quaker, an afifirmation,) of fidelity and abjuration, mak- 
ing a profession of christian faith before ajudge of the colony, 
should be taken as natural born subjects. This act of par- 
liament provided for the conscientious scruples, in relation to 
oaths, of the Quakers only, but its benefits were extended to 
others having like scruples, in Pennsylvania, by an act of 
assembly passed in 1742. The act of parliament removed 
the anomaly which existed before its passage, of persons enti- 
tled, in some part of the British possessions, to the full rights 
of subjects, whilst in others they were deemed foreigners. 
Thus, before the passage of the act, a German, enjoying the 
rights of a freeman in Pennsylvania, eligible to every kind of 
office, and entitled to the same privileges in trade as a natural 
born subject, would be deprived of all these, by removing to 
England, or even to a neighbouring colony. For though the 
power of naturalization exercised by the colonial government 
was unchecked, whilst it conferred the right of colonial free- 
dom only; the acts pretending to grant the rights of natural 
born subjects of Great Britain were immediately repealed by 
the king in council. 

Natural persons were again divisable into freemen and 
slaves. Slavery was tolerated, but never encouraged in Penn- 
sylvania. The protest of the German Quakers of Cresheim, 
and the reprobation of the practice by the Society of Friends, 
produced an early aversion to the slave trade, and reluctance 
to hold slaves. A duty was imposed on their importation 



HISTORY OF rENNSYI.VANIA. 



by acts of assembly in 1705 and 1710, rather, it would seem, 
with a view to revenue, than to inhibit the trade. But an act 
passed the seventh of June, 1712, was unequivocal in its 
character; declaring in the preamble the danger of insurrec- 
tion and murder from a negro population, and the *' umbrage 
of suspicion and dissatisfaction" given to the neighbouring 
Indians by the importation of Indian slaves, it imposed a 
duty of twenty pounds per head on every Indian or negro 
slave imported. But this humane and politic law was soon 
after repealed by the king in council. None of the aborigines 
of Pennsylvania were reduced to slavery. It would seem, 
however, that slaves of the Indian race were imported from 
Carolina and other places, to prevent which, an act was passed 
in 1705. The assembly of Pennsylvania earnestly struggled, 
and not without effect, to rid themselves of this curse, though 
their efforts were opposed by the spirit of trade, which pre- 
sided over the English councils, and uniformly rejected the 
acts passed for that purpose. Yet, as these acts were in force 
until disallowed, and were renewed as often as they were re- 
pealed, the slave trade was always clogged with heavy duties. 
In 1761 a duty of ten pounds per head on imported slaves 
was laid, and increased to twenty pounds, by an act passed in 
176S, and confirmed and made perpetual by an act of 1773. 
But the act of 1761 did not pass unopposed. Some of the 
principal merchants remonstrated against it, declaring their 
interest in the trade, and pleading its advantages. 

Still slavery existed in the province, and was not abolished 
until after the revolution. Slaves had no political rights, 
but the laws secured to them humane treatment, and such 
protection as can be granted to this degraded state. A par- 
ticular tribunal was established for slaves guilty of crimes, 
composed of two justices of the peace, and a jury of six free- 
holders; and the value of slaves comdemned to death was 
payable from the proceeds of duties on the importation of 
negroes. 

We may with propriety notice here another class of the 
people who were not freemen. Many valuable individuals 
were imported into the province as servants, who, in consi- 



556 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

deration of the payment of their passages, and other stipula- 
tions, contracted to serve for a definite period. This class 
was a favourite of the law. Provision was made by the laws 
agreed on in England for recording the names, times, and 
wages of servants; masters were allowed to take up lands for 
their use, and the servants themselves, after the expiration of 
their service, were permitted to become land-holders on easy 
terms; they were provided with sufficient clothing, and im- 
plements of labour; they could not be sold out of the province 
without their consent, and, in case of marriage, husband and 
wife could not be parted. On the other hand, due care was 
taken to preserve the rights of the master. Many of the 
German and Irish settlers were of this class, from whom have 
sprung some of the most reputable and wealthy inhabitants 
of the province. 

The freemen of the province originally enjoyed every per- 
sonal right as fully as consists with civil society. By the 
payment of a tax common to all, they were capable of electing, 
and being elected to the assembly and council. This right 
was qualified by the charter of 1696, and by that of 1701, 
was left to the regulation of law. The act of 1705 unwisely 
required a proprietary qualification, but it was not oppres- 
sive, since the amount of the estate required was attainable 
by almost every industrious and prudent man in the province. 
It provided that no one should elect or be elected unless he 
were a natural born or naturalized subject, above the age of 
twenty-one years, a freeholder, having at least fifty acres of 
land, well seated, and twelve acres thereof improved, or were 
otherwise worth fifty pounds clear estate, and were a resident 
of the province for two years. This act continued in force 
until the revolution. 

The rights of conscience were sedulously preserved. Every 
species of religious faith was not only tolerated, but was pro- 
tected. Some apprehensions of the Roman catholics were 
occasionally excited, and, at one time, it was proposed in 
council to enforce the British statutes against them; but that 
body humanely and wisely refused their assent. The rights 
of personal liberty ,, personal security, and enjoyment of pro- 



HISTORY OF PENXSYLVANIA. 557 

perty, were firmly established, and efficiently protected; the 
laws of England relative to these subjects having undergone 
no alteration. 

Relative rights, or such as regard the relations of husband 
and wife, parent and child, and master and servant, were also 
duly protected. By the law, marriage was a civil contract, 
the chief ingredients of which were the capacity and assent 
of the parties. Physical ability, in ordinary cases, created the 
moral power to enter into this contract; but if justices of the 
peace or clergymen assisted at the marriage of minors with- 
out the assent of parents or guardians, they were punishable 
by fine, at the suit of the aggrieved party. The law made no 
general provision for the dissolution of the marriage; and 
divorce from bed and board was allowed in case of bigamy 
only, on the request of the first wife or husband, made within 
one year after conviction. The '' laws agreed upon in Eng- 
land" required, that a certificate of the marriage, under the 
hands of the parties and witnesses, should be registered in the 
office of the register of the proper county ; and there is great 
reason to regret, that this wise requisition has not been con- 
tinued and enforced. The same respectable code so often 
quoted, directed that " all children within the province, of the 
age of twelve years, should be taught some useful trade or 
skill, to the end none may be idle, but the poor may work 
to live, and the rich, if they become poor, may not want." 
And when the orphans' courts were established, they were 
charged with the superintendence of the interests of minors, 
and the supervision of their apprenticeships. 

The laws of the province regulating real estate, difiTered 
widely from those of the mother country. The English law 
of descents, the creature of the feudal system, was never, in 
its extent, in force in Pennsylvania ; but it governed all cases 
not provided for by the provincial law. The " great law" 
of 1682 abolished the unjust right of primogeniture, distri- 
buted the real estate of an intestate among all his children, 
and established the right of disposing of it by will, attested 
by two witnesses. This principle was fully recognised by 
the laws of 1683; but was modified in 1684, by giving to the 



558 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

eldest son a double portion. The latter act abolished another 
unjust canon of the feudal system, by introducing the lineal 
ascent of estates; directing a moiety to pass to the parents, 
and a moiety to the governor, where the intestate left no 
wife, child, brothers or sisters. In 1693, the whole estate, 
in such case, was given to the parents, and where there were 
no parents, it was divided equally between the governor and 
the county treasurer. 

But this modification was abandoned by the act of 1705, 
by which the real estate of an intestate was divided equally 
among the widow and children, or the survivers of them, as 
tenants in common: If the land produced rents or annual 
profits, the widow might claim her dower at common law: 
If there was a widow, and no children, she took one-half of 
the estate, and the heir at common law the other; if there 
were neither widow nor children, or the children died in 
their minority, the heir at common law inherited. By a 
supplementary act of 1764, the widow's interest in the dece- 
dent's lands was declared to be for life only. By an act 
passed in 1683, the manner of delivering possession of lands 
was simplified by directing the possession to follow the de- 
livery of the deed, instead of the old mode of livery of 
seizen. 

Real estate thus unfettered became readily and frequently 
transmissable, and was rendered more mutable by the sim- 
plicity of conveyancing. An effective form of deed, applica- 
ble to the ordinary species of estates, contained in few words, 
was prescribed by a law of 16S3. And though this form has 
been unwisely abandoned, the good sense which dictated it 
has still preserved much simplicity in our muniments of 
title. 

The enjoyment and security of personal property were ab- 
solute. It was transferrable by the modes of bargain, sale, 
and delivery, usual in England, with the additional facility 
caused by an act of assembly, making choses in aciion, 
founded on written evidence, such as bonds, notes, and spe- 
cialties, assignable, and permitting the assignees to sue in 



HISTORY OF PENNSTLVANIA. 559 

their own names. An act probably growing out of the ne- 
cessities of William Penn, which found relief in transferring 
to creditors the debts due to him from individuals in the 
province.* About the time of the passage of this act, he 
proposed that bonds should be made a legal tender in pay- 
ment of debts. It is difficult to conceive how this proposition 
could have been reduced to practice; and we believe the sug- 
gestion was never acted upon. 

Before we enter upon consideration of actions, it will be 
proper to notice the preventive remedies, which the pru- 
dence of cur forefathers provided. In these they far out- 
stripped the policy of England, and early attained the goal 
towards which the English are still slowly struggling. Not 
content with opening wide the gates, and rendering facile the 
entrance to the temples of justice, the sage lawgivers of Penn- 
sylvania endeavoured to prevent the ignorance and uncer- 
tainty in relation to the titles and incumbrances of property, 
which cause vexatious disputes and tedious litigation. For 
this wise purpose, the "laws agreed upon in England," di- 
rected the enrolment, within two months after the making, 
of all conveyances of land, (save leases for a year and under,) 
and of all bills, bonds, and specialties, above five pounds in 
value; and the registry of marriages, births, burials, wills, 
and letters of administration, and the indentures of servants. 
Had these provisions, in their full extent, been continued, 
much difficulty now experienced in the proof of mar- 
riages, births, and deaths, would have been avoided. Sta- 
tutes of limitation, emphatically the " statutes of peace," 
were enacted to quiet antiquated rights; and one other, pre- 
ventive of litigation, short-lived, though probably useful, di- 
rected that the respective county courts should appoint ^^ three 
peace makers,^' in the nature of common arbitrators, to hear 
and end differences between man and man. 

The law declared, that " all courts should be open; that 
justice should neither be sold, denied, nor delayed." — "That 
persons of all persuasions might freely appear in their own 

• Logan MSS. 



560 HISTOUY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

way, and according to their own manner, and there personally 
plead their own cause themselves, or, if unable, by their 
friend." But '*that before the complaint of any person 
should be received, he should solemnly declare in court, that 
he believed, in hisconscience, his cause to be just." "That 
all pleadings, processes, and records, should be short, and in 
English, and in an ordinary and plain character, that they 
might be understood, and justice speedily administered." 
That fees should be moderate, and established by law;* and 
that justice might be brought to the doors of all, the juris- 
diction of justices of the peace, in England confined to the 
administration of criminal law, should be extended to civil 
cases, at first not exceeding forty shillings, and, subsequently, 
to causes of not more than five pounds in value. The first 
act on this subject, appears to have been made in 1705. 

In the law relating to civil actions, there was a singular 
contrast between the respect for the liberty of the subject, 
before and after judgment. By the 'Maws agreed upon in 
England," the first process was "the exhibition of the com- 
plaint in court, fourteen days before the trial; and, that the 
party complained against, might be fitted for the same, it was 
required that he should be summoned no less than ten days 
before, and a copy of the complaint be delivered to him at 
his dwelling-house." The arrest of the person does not 
seem to have been contemplated by the lawgiver. But this 
immunity did not long continue; and arrests were permitted 
under particular circumstances. By an act of 1705, any per- 
son arresting another, was required to be ready on the next 
day after, with his declaration and evidence, and to give se- 
curity to pay the charges and damages of the party arrested, 
should there be no cause of action: persons of known estates, 
arrested and imprisoned, were detained at their own expense, 
until security for payment was given, or satisfaction made; 
and persons without estates could not be confined longer than 
the second day of tlie next term after their confinement: 
fhey were compellable, however, to make satisfaction by 

* Laws agreed on in England. 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA, 561 

servitude, according to the judgment of the court — if unmar- 
ried, and not above fifty-three years of age, for seven years; 
if married, and under forty-six years of age, for five years. 
From this servitude, commercial policy exempted masters of 
vessels trading to the province from other ports. This bar- 
barous provision, inconsistent with the general humanity of 
the Pennsylvania law, polluted the statute book, not only 
during the whole of the colonial government, but until so 
late a period as 1808. Freeholders were exempted from ar- 
rest, but under so many exceptions, that it was always in the 
power of the creditor to arrest the debtor at his pleasure, 
where bail for his appearance was refused, or where his estate 
was encumbered, or his pecuniary ability doubtful — making 
and filing, however, before arrest, a solemn declaration of a 
subsisting debt. 

The forms of action were such as the laws of England 
provided; but they were not closely pursued. The judges, 
generally, not professionally educated, were frequently dis- 
posed to free themselves from trammels which strict prac- 
tice imposed; and their consciences sometimes forbade them 
to administer justice through legal fictions. Thus the fiction 
of lease entry and ouster, incident to the ancient action of 
ejectment, was deemed inadmissible. In a case tried in 
Bucks county, in 1762, a distinguished attorney* refused 
to plead to the declaration, because he would thereby confess 
a falsehood, and his refusal was sustained by the court. But 
this fiction was never abolished by the legislature, although its 
removal was frequently attempted. 

Trial by jury was established by the " laws agreed upon in 
England," and was at all times sacredly preserved. It might 
have been expected, that the love of simplicity and economy 
which suggested the tribunal of ^^peace makers,'^ would 
have attempted a modification of this cumbrous instrument 
for testing truth. It is, perhaps, indispensable to a pure and 
safe administration of justice, that the questions of fact and 
of law should be determined by different tribunals; that the 

♦ David Lloyd. 
71 



562 HISTOKY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

tryers of the fact should be occasional, that bribery might 
not be employed upon them; but it is not obviously neces- 
sary, that twelve men should agree upon the statement of 
an intricate account, determine the deviation of a vessel upon 
a voyage insured, or the fact of a trespass on land. It may 
be discovered at no distant day, that a jury of three or five 
men, whose deliberations shall be directed by a judge, and 
enlightened by counsel, will prove the most safe, cheap, and 
expeditious of judicatures. In the administration of the cri- 
minal law, the interposition of a jury, as now constituted, 
cannot be safely dispensed with. Before punishment, the 
guilt of the accused should be fully established; and it is not 
exacting too much to require, that it should be made appa- 
rent to at least twelve of his fellow citizens. 

In the sanction of evidence, the Pennsylvania lawgivers 
departed widely from the practice of their fathers. All civi- 
lized nations, in formal and solemn inquiries, have demanded 
that the witness should confirm his testimony, by invoking 
the presence of superior beings, before whom dissimulation 
was vain, and from whose justice none can escape. Under 
the Jewish dispensation, the source and origin of our faith, 
this invocation attended almost every important action of life; 
but the Finisher of that dispensation having commanded, 
"Swear not at all," many believers have deemed oaths of 
every kind unlawful. The Quakers, with that moral courage, 
and inflexible resolution, which have ever distinguished them, 
refused under all circumstances to take or administer an oath. 
This determination deprived them of almost all the benefits 
of the law. In civil suits, they could neither testify for others, 
nor obtain witnesses for themselves. In criminal cases, they 
were injured with impunity. The statutes 7 and 8 Wil. 
III., attempted, partially, to redress this crying grievance, 
by permitting them to make a solemn affirmation in the ^^ pre- 
sence of Godf the witness of the truth.^^ But this merely 
changed the form of the oath; and it was not until the S 
Geo. I., that the present form of affirmation, "I do solemnly, 
sincerely, and truly, declare and affirm," was established. 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 563 

, The acquisition of Pennsylvania, gave to the Quakers the 
means of religious liberty, which they h'astened to use. By 
the "laws agreed on in England," it was provided that 
witnesses should testify, "by solemnly promising to speak 
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; and 
persons convicted of falsehood were liable " to suffer such 
damage or penalty, as the person against whom he bore false 
witness did or should undergo, and to make satisfaction to 
the party wronged, and be publicly exposed as a false wit- 
ness, never to be credited in any court, or before any magis- 
trate in the province:" oaths were thus abolished in all cases. 
This law was re-enacted in 1693, but was modified by an act 
passed in 1712, allowing an affirmation to the scrupulous, and 
permitting others to make oath. This and other acts of like 
tenor were repealed by the privy council; but, at length, the 
form of affirmation having been settled in England, by the 
1 Geo. I., upon the model adopted in Pennsylvania, the pro- 
vincial act of 1718 enacted "That all manner of crimes and 
offences, matters and causes, may be inquired of, heard, tried, 
and determined, by judges, justices, inquests, and witnesses, 
qualifying themselves according to thoir conscientious per- 
suasions, respectively, either by taking a corporal oath, or by 
the solemn affirmation allowed by act of parliament;" thus 
extending that act to criminal cases, which were expressly 
excluded from its scope. This subject was wholly and finally 
settled in 1772, by an act of assembly, legalizing the oath 
with uplifted hands, after the ritual of the covenanters. 
These laws have extended to all, without distinction of re- 
ligious sects, the right to substitute an affirmation for an oath, 
where scruples of conscience prevail. The temporal punish- 
ment for falsehood uttered under either sanction is the same; 
and it is not to be presumed, that there will be a difference 
in the future. 

The genius of the feudal system forbade the alienation of 
lands, and sternly prohibited the change of tenants at the will 
of creditors. It was long before commercial justice could 
subject lands, under any circumstances, to the payment of 



564 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

debts. In England, even at this day, the recourse to them 
for that purpose is slow and complex during the life of the 
debtor; and after his death, the specialty creditor only, to 
whom the heir is also bound, can resort to the lands. The 
Pennsylvania lawgivers, in their first attempts to legislate on 
this subject, proceeding with timid hesitation, adopted half- 
way measures. 

By the ** laws agreed on in England," "all lands and goods 
were liable to pay debts, except where there was legal issue, 
and then all the goods, and one-third of the lands only." By 
the fifty-first chapter of the great law, the liability was ex- 
tended to one-half the lands: but the act of 16SS provided, 
that "all lands whatsoever, and houses, shall be liable to sale 
upon judgment and execution obtained against the defendant, 
his heirs, executors, or administrators;" v/ith the humane con- 
dition, that "the messuage and plantation upon which the 
defendant was chiefly seated, should not be exposed to sale, 
till the expiration of one year after judgment obtained, to 
the intent, that the owner, or any in his behalf, might en- 
deavour its redemption: that before sale, appraisement should 
be made by a jury, and that the chief plantation should be 
the last sold." By the act of 1700, the above provisions 
were substantially re-enacted; and by the act of 1705, the 
sale of lands taken in execution was forbidden, if the yearly 
profits, beyond reprizes, would within seven years pay the 
debt, with costs of suit; in that case, the lands were to be 
delivered, without further writ, to the plaintiff, until the debt 
should be levied by reasonable extent, in the manner lands 
are delivered on writs oi elegit in England. 

Great facility for the recovery of debts was obtained, by 
the action given against the heir or personal representatives 
of the decedent. But a more comprehensive and speedy, 
equitable and economical, mode of applying the estate of a 
decedent to the payment of his debts, was devised, which, 
leaving to each creditor the right to proceed for himself in- 
dividually, enabled the representative of the decedent to act 
for all, and to make'distribution of the whole estate; and when 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 565 

it was insufficient to pay all, to divide it amongst the creditors, 
in a certain order of priority established by law. This order, 
with some slight change, still continues, although every pre- 
ference in payment, not founded on special contract and 
pledge between the parties, is unjust. 

Failing the estate of the debtor, recourse was given to 
his person, in relation to which, as we have already stated, 
a cruel severity existed in the law, which the humanity of 
our ancestors did not suffer them to enforce. 

So early as 1729, a permanent insolvent law was enacted, 
which endured, with slight alteration, as long as the colonial 
government. Debtors charged in execution for sums not 
exceeding one hundred and fifty pounds, and not indebted to 
one individual in a greater sum, might be exonerated from 
imprisonment, on account of any debt due at the time of his 
discharge, by the court whence the process issued, upon sur- 
render of his effects to trustees, for the benefit of his credi- 
tors, and declaring on oath a schedule of his estate, and that 
he had not disposed of any part thereof, whereby to have 
profit to himself, or defraud his creditors; provided, that no 
creditor insisted on his detention in prison, and engaged to 
pay a stipulated sum for his maintainance. Property acquired 
by the debtor after his discharge, was liable to be taken in 
execution for his debts. Prisoners for debt under forty shil- 
lings might obtain the benefit of this act, by application to 
two justices of the peace. By an act of 1774, provision was 
made for the appointment of commissioners to carry into 
effect the assignment of insolvents. Cases of insolvency, 
not embraced by the general law, were provided for, from 
time to time, by special acts of assembly. 

We can trace, perhaps, with sufficient accuiacy, the source 
whence Penn and his associates drew their political princi- 
ples. Bright gleams of political light illumined the revolution 
which prostrated the first Charles. The Oceana of Harring- 
ton gave the plan of the first frame of government of the 
province; and the same work, the civil law, or even the 
ancient English common law, might have directed them to 



566 ItlSTOUY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

the equal distiibution of estates among the children or re^ 
lalives of the owner, which Harrington wisely deemed the 
only security for the stability of a republic. The necessity 
for a speedy administration of justice, among the founders 
of colonies in the wilderness, where every hour was needed, 
to fell the forest, or cultivate the field, taught our forefathers 
the worse than uselessness of the logic then prevalent in the 
courts — that creature of ingenuity and selfishness, which, like a 
spider's net, spread its meshes to feed its framers. But whence 
did the Pennsylvania lawgivers derive their system of criminal 
jurisprudence? It was not found in England, nor in conti- 
nental Europe. The puritans of the revolution gave to the 
criminal code of the former a darker hue. The theocracy 
of the Jews, towards which religious reformers are too apt 
to look, was dyed in blood. Wlience then did Penn and 
his followers learn, that, in moderate governments, the love 
of country, and the sense of shame, are tlie greatest pre- 
ventives of crime? that, in republics, the greatest punishment 
of a bad action is conviction; and that the wisdom of the le- 
gislator is better employed in preventing crimes, than in de- 
vising punishment ? Is it, that the knowledge and love of 
civil liberty teaches mercy and forbearance ; or does a proper 
understanding of the principles of the great Founder of 
Christianity lead us to treat with charity our fellow beings, 
who have fallen by temptations, which, in like circumstances, 
might have proven irresistible to ourselves? 

If praise be due to the political changes introduced by 
Penn, his modification of the criminal law claims our highest 
regard. The merit of originality is his: the merit of practi- 
cally demonstrating, that the laws can convert any thing into 
punishment, by making it infamous; and that the certainty, 
and not the severity, of punishment, is the best corrective of 
crime, is undeniably his; and this, if there were nothing else 
to recommend him, exhibits such profundity of thought, 
justness and comprehensiveness of political knowledge, as 
must class the proprietary in the highest rank of philosophers 
and public benefactors. 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 567 

By the establishment of religious toleration, all offences 
against religion were stricken from the statute book, unless 
cursing, swearing, and blasphemy be so denominated. But 
these were offences against public decorum, and as such were 
punishable. 

By the first laws of the province, the murderer alone was 
punished by death; and even towards him the severity of the 
English law was modified. By the former the whole of his 
lands and goods were confiscated, whilst by the latter, one- 
half was suffered to pass to his wife and children. With equal 
wisdom and humanity, all forfeitures for self-murder and 
deodands, in cases of homicide, were abolished. " Robbery, 
burglary, arson, rape, the crime against nature, forgery, levy- 
ing war against the governor, conspiring his death, and other 
crimes, deemed so heinous in many countries, and for which 
so many thousands have been executed in Britain, were de- 
clared to be no longer capital." Imprisonment at hard labour 
for a term apportioned to the offence, stripes, fines, and for- 
feitures, were the punishments inflicted on these offences. 

As these laws were experimental, they were temporarily 
enacted. But proving efficacious, they were permanently 
adopted, and transmitted to the privy council in England. 
So wide a departure from the English law was immediately 
condemned and rejected. But the provincial assembly, per- 
severing in their design, and re-enacting their bills, the coun- 
cil at length acquiesced, since these laws continued in force 
until 1718. At that period a total change of criminal juris- 
prudence was effected, which, if ascribable tothe cause assign- 
ed, adds another to the thousand instances of disregard which 
religious enthusiasm has shown for the most important tem- 
poral benefits. 

Tlie administration of the government had, from the set- 
tlement of the province, been conducted under the solemnity 
of an affirmation, instead of an oath, notwithstanding the 
frequent repeals in England of the provincial laws on this 
subject. The pertinacity of the province on this head, wUh 
her refusal to adopt the English statutes in other cases, gave 
great ofl'cnce, which was heightened by the misreprcsenta- 



568 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

tions of her disputes with her governors; and, together with 
Penn's contemplated surrender of the government to the 
crown, induced the fear that the whole frame of the govern- 
ment was in jeopardy. The feeble Gookin, extending to the 
province the act of 1 Geo. I. prohibiting an affirmation in 
cases of qualification for office, or in criminal suits, unhinged 
its whole polity. The administration of justice was suspended, 
and two atrocious murderers remained in prison three years 
without trial. On the accession of Keith, they were convicted 
and executed, under the old forms of procedure. Loud com- 
plaints were made to the crown in regard to this case, and 
the assembly, panic-struck, became apprehensive of the loss 
of the privilege of affirmation, and that punishment would be 
inflicted for the trial and execution of subjects, contrary to 
the provisions of the statute. Governor Keith suggested that 
the best mode of propitiating their sovereign, would be, the 
adoption of the laws of the parent state, " the sum and result 
of the experience of ages:" to wdiieh the assembly lent too 
favourable an ear. The law of 1718 was enacted; high trea- 
son, including all the treasons which respect the coin, petit- 
treason, murder, robbery, burglary, rape, &c. &c., m.ali- 
cious maiming, manslaughter, by stabbing, witchcraft, con- 
juration, and arson, were declared capital on the first, and 
all other felonies, larceny excepted, on the second conviction. 
The English law, respecting bastard-children, was extended 
in its rigour, and the courts authorized to award execution 
forthwith. To this list, were added, at subsequent periods, 
counterfeiting, and uttering counterfeit bills of credit, and 
counterfeiting any current gold and silver coin. By the act 
of 1718, that system of provincial criminal law was settled, 
which continued in force until the revolution. That auspicious 
event, restoring to Pennsylvania unfettered power of legisla- 
tion, the reform of the criminal law became one of the most 
prominent objects of her wishes, and was enjoined by the 
constitution of 1776. 

III. As every species of religion was protected in Penn- 
sylvania, lier inhabitants were soon di&ting;uished for the 
variety of their creeds. The province became the asylum of 



HISTOKY OF PKNNSYLVANIA. 569 

many personSjVvhose peculiar opinions renderetUhemi inpatient 
of, or obnoxious to, their native governments. Here were found 
Quakers, episcopalians, lutherans, Roman catholics, presby- 
terians, independents, and German calvinists; the Moravians 
and Schvvenckfelders, and sects less numerous, and now 
almost forgotten; and here also the Jew, loaded with con- 
tumely in every country of Europe, found safety and respect; 
for here even against him the sword of persecution had no 
edge. 

A very short notice will suffice for those sects, who, from 
their numbers, and communion with general society, are 
known to all. But it will be proper to describe more fully 
those whose peculiar faith and practice have rendered them 
subjects of curiosity. 

We have seen, that at the time of the grants to Penn, seve- 
ral christian churches were established in the province and 
territories. The Dutch had one at New Castle, but of what 
denomination we are not told. The Swedish Lutherans had 
three: one at Christina, another at Tinicum, and a third at 
Wicocoa; to which they subsequently added one at King- 
sesslng, and another at Merion; but of all these, the church 
erected in South wark in 1700 alone remained in 1776. The 
l-iulherans, however, rapidly increased by the influx of the 
Germans; they had two churches in Philadelphia, and seve- 
ral others in the counties of Lancaster, Berks, and Northamp- 
ton. 

The Quakers had meetings at Chester, Kensington, and the 
fulls of the Delaware. Their yearly meeting was first holden 
in America, at Burlington, on the twenty-eighth of Septem- 
ber, 1681, and between the years 1684 and 1761 it held its 
annual sessions alternately at that city, and at Philadelphia; 
but in the latter year it was permanently fixed at the latter 
place. The Quakers settled principally in the counties of 
Philadelphia, Chester, and liucks; and at one period, formed 
a large majority of those counties, but were soon fiir out- 
numbered by other sects. In 1770 they had between sixty 
and seventy houses for divine worship. 

The episcopalians became early numerous in the province, 
72 



570 TIlSroRY OF FENNSYLYANIA. 

and were strengthened by tiie seceders from the Quakers, 
under Keith, most of whom joined the national church. 
Whilst the political power was entirely in the hands of the 
Quakers, the churchmen were jealous and discontented, and 
transmitted very unfavourable representations of the policy 
of their rulers to the crown. But when the executive power 
was exercised by lieutenant-governors of the established 
church, and the offices, on the recommendation of the pro- 
prietaries, were distributed in full proportion among them, 
they became reconciled, and ardently attached to the consti- 
tution of the province- Christ church was founded in 1710, 
enlarged in 1727 and 1731, and completed, by the erection of 
the steeple, in 1753; St. Peter's was built in 1761; and sub- 
sequently St. Paul's was erected by the friends and admirers 
of a certain Mr. M'Clanaghan ; the two former were conjoin- 
ed by one act of incorporation. Episcopal churches were 
also erected in other parts of the province; but neither the 
pastors nor their congregations were distinguished by zeal in 
making converts, and their churches were sustained chiefly 
by the accession of members from England, and the progress 
of natural increase. 

The protestants of every denomination held the Roman 
catholic communion in abhorrence; and the penal laws of 
England forbade the public exercise of that religion. So 
enthralling was this prejudice, that even the liberal spirit of 
William Penn reluctantly received papists into his province. 
The minutes of the provincial council show, that such danger 
was apprehended from their missionaries, that their imprison- 
ment was deemed necessary to the public safety. Previously 
to the year 1733, few catholics resided in Philadelphia, and 
these held their meetings for religious worship in a private 
dwelling, and were occasionally visited by missionaries from 
Maryland. At that time a small chapel was erected in the 
city, and dedicated to St. Joseph, and a pastor was duly ap- 
pointed to officiate therein. The public celebration of mass 
caused inuch agitation in the provincial council, and governor 
Gordon proposed to suppress it, as contrary to the stat. 1 1 
and 12 William III. The catholics claimed protection under 



HISTOUY OK PENNSYLVANIA. S^l 

the provincial charter, and the council referring the subject 
to their superiors at home, the governor wisely resolved to 
suffer them to worship in peace. The German emigrants 
added greatly to their number, and before 1776 another cha- 
pel was erected at Lancaster, 

At the revolution, the presbyterians, including the Dutch 
and German calvinists, formed the most numerous sect in the 
province, several of the back counties being chiefly peopled 
by them. Large numbers flowed in from the north of Ireland, 
and their church grew rapidly by the zeal and industry of 
its pastors. They were distinguished by courage and 
perseverance, in maintaining their religious tenets, in de- 
fending their possessions against the Indians, and in the 
destruction of the savage enemy. On the important question 
of changing the proprietary for a royal government, they 
were strenuous in their opposition to Franklin and tiic Quak- 
ers, and were ardent whigs in the revolution. The germ of 
this society, which has sent its roots into all parts of the state, 
and whose branches threaten to overshadow all other deno- 
minations, was small indeed. In 1695, a few independents, 
with some baptists, assembled in a small frame warehouse, at 
the corner of Chesnut and Second streets, where they attend- 
ed the ministry of the reverend John Watts, a baptist minis- 
ter. In 1698 they were sufficiently numerous to call a minister 
of their own faith, the reverend Jedediah Andrews, from 
New England. In 1704 they purchased a lot on Market 
street, and erected a house for public worship, which they 
enlarged in 17^9, when they adopted the presbyteriau 
form of government. A part of this church, in 1742, 
followed JNfr. VVhitficid, and occupied the house built for 
that eloquent preacher. In 1750 they founded the second 
presbyterian church, and at the commencement of the revo- 
lutionary war they had four houses for divine worship in the 
city, and many others througiiout the province. 

In 1684, a Mr. Dongan, from Rhode Island, gathered 
a church of baptists, at Cold Spring, above Bristol, in the 
county of Jiucks In 16i?0, sonic perstms of the same 
faith came from Radnorshiie, in Wales, aiid Killarney, in 



575 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

Ireland, and seated themselves on the Pcnnypack creek, ten 
miles north-east of Philadelphia, where they established a 
church, over which Elias Keach, an English youth, haj^tizcd 
and ordained by Mr. Dongan, was chosen pastor. In 1687, 
Mr. John Watts, from the county of Kent, England, was 
baptized at Pennypack, and in 1698 assumed the charge of a 
church at Philadelphia, composed of nine persons onl}^, and 
meeting in the building occupied in common with the inde- 
pendents. But being expelled by their associates from this 
house, the)'^ assembled statedly for worship at a brew- 
house* in the city, until the year 1707, when, by invi- 
tation from some Keithian seceders, they removed to a 
house on the site of their present place of worship, in 
Second, near Mulberry street. The dunkards and meno- 
nists, maintaining the rite of baptism by immersion, are 
classed with the general society of baptists in Pennsylva- 
nia. But we shall find it most convenient to treat of them 
separately. The English baptists in 1770 were estimated at 
six hundred and fifty families, and three thousand two hun- 
dred and fifty-two persons, divided into eighteen congrega- 
tions, occupying as many meeting houses. 

The menonists were a sect of German baptists, who, like 
most sectarians, trace their. faith to a remote origin, deriving 
it from the christian church in Thessalonia, in the time of the 
apostles. They take their name from Menno Simon, of the 
Netherlands, a leader of their sect in the sixteenth century. 
They denied the unlawfulness of oaths, and the use of arms 
in war; adopted a peculiar plainness and form of dress, ap- 
pointed their ministers out of the general body without pre- 
vious instruction, held love feasts, and washed each others' 
feet as a religious ceremony. From their own accounts they 
were much persecuted in Germany, and professing a religious 
practice, similar to that adopted by the zealots of Munsler, 
they piobably partook of the merited odium which pursued 
those fanatics. They, however, disclaim and condemn the 
wild and criminal extravagance of that people. Although 
they had purchased toleration for their faith, and exemption 
fiom oaths and military service in Germany, they were sub- 
* Of Anthony Morris, near the Drawbridge. 



HISTORY OF I'ENNSYLVANIA. 573 

jected to many oppressions, which led them to seek elsewhere 
full enjoyment of civil and religious liberty. From the 
writings and discourses of William Penn during his German 
travels, they obtained a knowledge of Pennsylvania. Some 
of them removed to the province in 1698, others in 1706, 
1709, and 1711. Their report induced many to follow them 
in 1717. Their first settlements were at German town, where 
they built a meeting and school house, in 170S. At this place 
many of their descendants aie still found, but their chief set- 
tlements are in Lancaster, and the neighbouring counties. 
In 1770 their number was estimated at 4050 persons, and 
their places of worship at forty-two. They are a sober, in- 
dustrious, economical, and moral people. 

The du7ikards, tunkers, or dumplers, are another species 
of German baptists, now almost extinct. Their religion was 
more mystical, and their practice more ascetic and fanatic, 
than of any other sect in the province. The word " tunkeVy^ 
from which their other names are derived, means a baptizer 
by immersion. With the Quakers and menonists, they refuse 
to swear, or bear arms. They trace their origin to the bap- 
tism of John, and admit no other confession of faith than the 
New Testament. They adopt the eucharist, which they ad- 
minister at night, in imitation of our Saviour, washing, at the 
same time, one another's feet, agreeably to his example and 
command. They convene on the first day of the week for 
public worship; but those at Ephrata kept the Jewish sab- 
bath. They wore their beards long, and dressed in plain and 
coarse garments, of an ancient fashion. 

This sect commenced in Germany in 1705, and consisted prin- 
cipally of German Calvinists, whose aberrations obtained for 
them the name of pietists,' and a considerable share of persecu- 
tion. They collected at Svvarzenan, in the county of Witgen- 
stein, where they were allowed, for a season, to meet without 
interruption. Here, under the guidance of Alexander Mack, a 
miller, of Schricsheim, a society originally of eight persons 
was formed, who adopted the rile of baptism by immersion. 
Their number increasing, and their enthusiasm meeting with 
reproof, they rcnio\ed to C'reyficld, in the dutchy of Clcvcs 



574 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

whence a company of eight or ten, still under the direction 
of Mack, who devoted his property to the common use of the 
society, proceeded to Pennsylvania in 1719, and seated them- 
selves at Germantown. Their church here grew rapidly, 
receiving members from the inhabitants along the Wissahic- 
con, and from Lancaster county. In 1723, the members in 
Germantown and its vicinity formed themselves into a com- 
munity, under Peter Beeker, who was chosen official bap- 
tizer; and who also, in the succeeding year, collected the 
scattered brethren in Lancaster county into a distinct society, 
near Pequa creek. 

At the head of this last association, one Conrad Beissel, 
who assumed the name of Friedsam Gottrecht, anglice 
Peaceable Godright, had sufficient art to place himself. By 
his influence the observance of the seventh day of the week 
was adopted in 1728, when the members separated themselves 
from all fellowship with the rest of the tunkers, and were 
re-baptized by Beissel, or " gave to the old baptists their 
baptism back again." Soon after, a society in opposition to 
Beiesel was formed, near the Conestoga creek. That leader 
becoming more ascetic, adopted the life of a recluse, and re- 
tired to a cottage which had been erected by a solitary, named 
Emilech. But learning that discord and strife had arisen in 
the community, he summoned the members before him, by a 
formal citation, on the fourth of September, 1732. Their 
conference resulted in the determination of the unmarried 
brethren, to erect for themselves a cottage near to Beissel 's, 
and a dwelling for the sisters. Several revivals of enthusiasm 
among the tunkers, at Falconer's swamp, on the banks of the 
Schuylkill, at Tulpchocken and Germantown, increased the 
huts around Beissel. The sisterhood obtained considerable 
accessions, but two sisters only continued steadfast in their 
renunciation of marriage. The zealots gave to their new 
habitations the names of Zohar, Hebron, Massa and Cades, 
and that of Kedar to a meeting house which they built for 
the celebration of love feasts. This being transformed into a 
" sister convent," another meeting house was erected; and, in 



HISTOKY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 575 

1738, a house was built for the brethren, and called Zion, and 
the whole settlement received the name of Ephrala. 

Thus a solitary life was changed into a conventical one. 
Zion, now called a " klosier,*' or convent, was put under mo- 
nastic rule, and the brethren adopted a habit similar to that 
of the capuchins. Onesimus was appointed prior, and Beis- 
sel assumed the title of "father." But these changes were 
not unopposed: some individuals preferred their former soli- 
tude; and others condemned Beissel's presumption in appro- 
priating to himself the style of ''father." Hildebrand and 
Sangmeister, distinguished members, were among the mal- 
contents. The latter retired to a solitude in Virginia, where 
he commenced a narrative in German of his own life and 
religious experience, with an historical notice of the Ephrata 
institution. 

The property of the society consisted of about two hun- 
dred and fifty acres of land. Its labours and profits were 
in common. Marriage and sexual intercourse were forbidden 
to the members of the community; but such as were dis- 
posed to enter into matrimony were permitted to withdraw; 
taking with them their proportion of the common stock. The 
sexes dwelt apart. They lived on vegetables solely, and slept 
on wooden benches, with blocks of wood for pillows, and 
attended worship four times in the twenty-four hours. This 
life macerated their bodies, and rendered their complexions 
pale and bloodless. Their dress consisted of a shirt, trovv- 
sers, and waistcoat, with a long white gown and cowl, of 
wool in winter, and linen in summer. The dress of the wo- 
men differed from that of the men in petticoats only: with 
the cowls of their gowns they covered their faces, when going 
into public. When walking, they all used a solemn steady 
pace, keeping straight forward, with their eyes fixed to the 
ground, not turning to give an answer when asked a ques- 
tion. On their occasional visits to their friends at German- 
town, forty or fifty thus strangely accoutred, with sandals on 
their feet, were seen following each other in Indian file. On 
the death of Beissel, his autliority devolved on one Millar, 



376 HISTOKY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

who^ wanting the vigorous mind and influence of his prede- 
cessor, was unable to preserve the society from rapid decay. 
All engrossing as religious fanaticism usually is, and at- 
tractive as it sometimes proves, by its singularities, nature 
and reason proved too strong for it in Pennsylvania; and the 
tunker sect has been almost extinguished in the unequal 
conflict. Ephrata still exists, but the peculiarities of its in- 
habitants are no more: they marry and are given in mar- 
riage; eat, drink, and dress, like their neighbours; but are 
still remarkable for the simplicity of their manners, and fer- 
vour of their devotion. Their religious principles are not 
precisely known: they denied the doctrine of original sin, 
and the eternity of punishment; and believed that the day of 
judgment would be a day of light and instruction, when the 
whole human race would be restored to happiness: conten- 
tion with arms, or at law, they considered as inconsistent with 
Christianity. They had no set form of worship, but sang, at 
their devotions, hymns composed by the brethren, and were 
distinguished by skill in vocal music. A mystical union in 
love with God and Christ, they deemed the great object of 
their life, and the reward of their labours and sufferings, to 
attain which, self-denial, and withdrawal from the world, were 
essential. Baptism they adopted, not as an initiation to Chris- 
tian fellowship, but as a rite, like that of purification in the 
Mosaic law, to be repeated as often as the believer was defiled 
by the world. Their sensual affections, driven from their 
natural channel, were poured forth on this mystical union 
with the Redeemer. By the unmarried of both sexes, he 
was considered as an object of more than spiritual love: he 
was the bride of the one, and the bridegroom of the other: 
in their songs and hymns, as in those of the Moravians, he 
was sometimes addressed in the strong, and frequently not 
most delicate, language of passion, "Some of their writers 
of spiritual songs possessed well-regulated minds, and a por- 
tion of poetic spirit. The mysticism of these, created an 
imaginary world, instead of that which they had abandoned, 
where they permitted their affections to roam unchecked. 
The figure or image dearest to passion, was enthroned in 



HISTORY OF PENKSYLVANIA. 577 

their hearts: that was their God, their Lord, their Re- 
deemer. But the effusions of others were a jargon of incon- 
sistent connexions; turtle-doves and lambs in conjugal union; 
cultivated fields, on which were sown pearls, and wine, and 
music; burning hearts united in keeping silence, and singing 
at the same time songs of joy,"* The whole number of tun- 
kers in Pennsylvania, in 1770, was estimated at four hundred 
and nineteen families, consisting of two thousand and ninety- 
five persons. They had four meeting-houses in different parts 
of the province. 

Among the strange religionists of the province, the Swenck- 
felders must not be overlooked. They derive their name 
from Caspar Swenckfeld, of Ossing, who was a distinguished 
teacher at the reformation in the sixteenth century. The 
sect which he gathered was tolerated by the German empe- 
rors, in the arch-dukedom of Silesia, especially in the prin- 
cipalities of Taur and Lignitz, for near two hundred years. 
But they underwent some persecutions in 1590 and 1650; 
and, in 1725, were compelled to seek shelter in Upper Lu- 
satia, in Saxony, under the protection of the senate of Gor- 
litz, and also of count Zinzendorf. They dwelt unmolested 
here about eight years; when, this protection being with- 
drawn, they resolved to seek a permanent establishment in 
Pennsylvania. Many of them came over in the year 1733, 
but the greater part in the succeeding year. Like the Quak- 
ers and menonists, they differed from the major part of the ^ 
Christian world, in their disuse of oaths, and reprobation of^ 
war. They varied from the menonists, in refraining, from^^ 
conscientious motives, from the sacraments of baptism ancT* 
the eucharist. They settled chiefly in the county of Berks. 
They are not numerous, but are an industrious, frugal, and 
moral people, whose value was justly appreciated by the sa- 
gacious Frederick of Prussia, who, in vain, by proclamation, 
in 1742, invited their return to Silesia. 

In 1G94, a sect of German pietists, forty-two in number, 
who were denominated "the society of the woman in the 

• Endress's Account of tliA I'unkers. Mem. Peun. Hist. Soc. 
73 



578 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

wilderness," settled at t!ie Ridge, not far from Germantown. 
They were principally men of education, whose peculiar and 
wild views of religion drove them from the universities of 
Germany, to seek among the American wilds some immediate 
and strange revelations. They believed in the near approach 
of the millenium: that the "woman in the wilderness," 
mentioned in Revelations, was prefigurative of the great de- 
liverance of the church of Christ, then about to be displayed: 
that, as she was *'to come up from the wilderness, leaning on 
her beloved," so the beloved, becoming hermits, and laying 
aside all other engagements, should prepare for her reception, 
by adorning themselves with holiness; and should observe the 
signs of the times, if, peradventure, the " Harbinger^' might 
appear. They taught that there was a threefold wilderness 
state of progression in spiritual holiness; the barren, the fruit- 
ful, and the wilderness state of the elect of God : the last of 
which, the highest degree of holiness, was to be attained by 
dwelling in solitude, or the wilderne.ss. Thus Moses ac- 
quired his holiness by a preparation of forty years in the 
desert; and thus St. John was qualified, and Christ himself 
was prepared by his forty days' temptation in the wilderness: 
whence it was inferred, that holy men might be qualified to 
come forth again, to convert " whole cities," and to work 
"signs and wonders." With more good sense than usually 
accompanies such vagaries, these holy men waited for some 
satisfactory evidence of their apostolic qualifications, which 
not receiving, they were content to instruct such only as 
sought their haunts. 

These enthusiasts retired to the woods, where they led the 
lives of hermits. This abstraction did not continue long with 
the major part of them. They returned to a communion with 
the world, and many of them abandoned all hopes of solitude 
and silence, wedding women who were not of the wilderness. 
A few, however, persevered; among whom were John Kel- 
pius, their leader, and John Seelig, his companion and pupil, 
and Conrad Matthias, a Swiss, who joined them in 1704. 

Kelpius was a scholar, and, tradition says, a noble of an 
eminent family of Siebenburgen, or Transylvania. He was 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 579 

well versed in the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, German, and Eng- 
lish languages, in the last of which he wrote with a freedom 
and purity of style rarely attained by foreigners. And upon 
all topics, save his peculiar religious opinions, he reasoned 
acutely and soberly. He died in 1708, at the early age of 
thirty-five. 

After the death of Kelpius, his faith was continued for 
many years by Seelig, who was remarkable for the firmness 
with which he resisted the temptations of the world, and for 
wearing a very coarse garment, similar to that worn by his 
predecessor. He was succeeded by Matthias, who was the 
lastof the hermits, and who died about the year 1745. Though 
withdrawn from society, these men did not altogether aban- 
don the business of the world, and waste their lives in pious 
idleness. They devoted themselves gratuitously to the edu- 
cation and instruction of the poor, and many of the oldest 
deeds of conveyance in the neighbourhood are of the hand- 
writing of Seelig. These ascetics appear to have been all 
tinctured with judicial astrology and magic, and perhaps were 
known and feared as conjurers, Kelpius kept his diary by 
the signs of the zodiac, and Seelig told fortunes by casting 
nativities. Doctor Christopher Witt was also of the "so- 
ciety of the woman of the wilderness." He arrived in Penn- 
sylvania, with Conrad Matthias, in 1704, was distinguished 
as a practitioner of medicine, and as a magus, or diviner, or, 
in grosser acceptation, a conjurer. He was a student and 
believer in all the learned absurdities and marvellous preten- 
sions of the Rosie Crusian philosophy. His practice as a 
physician was extensive and profitable; but the ignorance 
and superstition of his neighbours, probably rendered his 
profession of necromancy the more lucrative. His art was 
frequently employed in lifting for them the veil of futu- 
rity, discovering the secret depositories of stolen goods, de- 
lecting the thieves, and relieving the disorders and spells 
created by witchcraft. He lived a full century? and died in 
Germantown, in 1765. His doctor's cloak, and magician's 
wand, became the properly of his apprentice, named Frai- 



580 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

ley, whose reputation it is believed was never so great as 
his master's.* 

Of the eccentric religious sects which Germany has en- 
gendered, none have been more distinguished than the Mora- 
vians, or " unitas fratrum.^^ This society, by its services, 
and its relations with the Indians, has connected itself inti- 
mately with Pennsylvania history. It is indebted for its 
formation and success to count Zinzendorff. He, in early 
youth, was deeply impressed with religious sentiments, and 
was ambitious to become the founder and director of a reli- 
gious community. Soon after attaining his majority, in 1721, 
he collected a number of persons on his estate at Berthelsdorff, 
in Upper Lusatia. He was joined here by some Moravian 
families, led by Christian David, who, it is said, left their 
homes with the design of settling in Pennsylvania, but stopped 
at Berthelsdorff, under the assurance that they might there 
enjoy religious freedom. In 1732, the society at that place 
had increased to six hundred. From the name of an adja- 
cent hill, called Huth-berg, they styled their dwelling '■'Herrn- 
huth,^^ interpreted, the ^^ guard of the Lord,^^ and the 
members received the appellation of Herrnhutters. But, as 
a large proportion of the brethren were from Moravia, the 
count claimed for his society Moravian parentage, and boast- 
ed its descent from those Bohemians and Moravians, who, 
long before Luther, opposed the Roman church, and who 
were originally from the Greek church, and afterwards con- 
nected with the Waldenses. 

The declared faith of the unitas fratrum was Lutheran: 
but its discipline, religious practices, and forms of worship, 
were peculiar to itself. The fraternity was divided into 
classes of married men, married women, widowers, widows, 
bachelors, maids, and children. Each class had its director, 
chosen by the members, whose duty was to examine and re- 
port daily to the elders the religious and temporal state of 
its constituents. Frequent assemblies were holden by each 

. * For the foregoing account of the "society of the woman of the wil- 
derness," 1 am indebted to the meritorious collection of Mr. I. F. Wat- 
son, in the possession of the Pennsylvania historical society.- 



HISTORY OF TENNSYLVANIA. 581 

class, and by the society. The overseers or directors had 
also private meetings, for the instruction of each other in 
the guidance of souls. The classes were severally divided 
into such as were spiritually dead, awakened, ignorant, will- 
ing disciples, and disciples who had made progress; proper 
assistance was given to all, especially to those who were spi- 
ritually dead. Great attention was paid to the nurture and 
education of youth; and meetings were holden for children 
scarce able to walk, at which hymns were sung and sermons 
preached. 

The society was governed by the elder, co-elder, and vice- 
elder, over whom count Zinzendorff, by various titles, con- 
ferred at different times, held almost uncontrolled influence. 
He exercised clerical functions, and, for a short season, was 
their bishop. That'office, however, gave no authority; and the 
difference between the bishop and other ministers, consisted 
only in the power to give ordination. Claiming for himself 
and the superiors of the fraternity, a mysterious connexion 
with Christ, whose will, in relation to the society, was com- 
municated through them, he required and received implicit 
obedience from the members. This will was ascertained 
among the rulers, on doubtful occasions, by casting of lots. 
To the elders belonged the sole right of making marriages, 
which they also determined by lot. Whilst the tunkers of 
Ephrata looked only to a spiritual marriage with the Saviour, 
and prohibited a carnal union with each other, the jMoravian 
brethren taught, that marriage was not only permissible, but 
was a duty of the highest obligation; that all souls are of the 
feminine gender; and the sex of the male an office imposed 
in this probationary state. "Jesus," they said, "is the 
spouse of all the sisters, and the husband, in the most proper 
sense, his procurator: the sister is conducted by him to Jesus, 
and the husband thus becomes her saviour in this world, and 
is therefore, as the representative of Christ, entitled to all 
honour." Their enemies have, we believe, falsely, charged 
the brethren with celebrating their marriages by grossly im- 
pudent exhibitions.* 

• Sec Kimiiis. 



582 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

A great part of their worship consisted in singing. Their 
hymns, like those of the tunkers, contained many passionate 
expressions and sensual images. They had great faith in the 
efficacy of prayer : persons were appointed, who, by rotation, 
continued to pray for the society through all the hours of the 
day and night. The devotion of the society was frequently 
revived and enlightened by agapes, or love-feasts. 

The community professed adherence to the confession of 
Augsburg; but they admitted to their communion Calvinists, 
and every other sect willing to conform to their discipline. 
They denied the lawfulness of oaths, and the use of arms; 
but, after having obtained an act of parliament to protect them 
in these scruples in America, they in 1764 assumed arms to 
defend themselves against the savages. 

The society grew rapidly, and established churches in Ger- 
many, the United Provinces, the British European dominions, 
in Greenland, in several of the West India islands, and in 
Pennsylvania. In 1749, it had thirty thousand members, 
and employed one thousand missionaries, who were indefati- 
gable in spreading the light of the gospel and the blessings 
of civilization among the heathen. 

The Swenckfelders, who settled in Pennsylvania, originally 
proposed to establish themselves in the province of Georgia. 
Upon the abandonment of their plan, the lands designed for 
them were offered to, and accepted by, the Moravian brethren, 
who, in 1734, sent out a colony, by the way of London, to 
found a settlement on the Ogeeche river. In the succeeding 
summer, another colony, led by David Nitschman, was esta- 
blished at Savannah. But, in 1738 and 1740, being required by 
the government of Georgia to take up arms against the Spa- 
niards, the brethren abandoned their flourishing possessions, 
and removed to Pennsylvania. In 1739, they obtained an act 
of parliament, permitting them to substitute an affirmation for 
an oath, and granting them immunity from military service, 
on the payment of a rate assessed. " Those who first arrived 
in Pennsylvania, seated themselves, by invitation from Mr. 
Whitfield, on a tract of land he had purchased for the esta- 
blishment of a negro school, and to which he had given the 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 58S 

name of Nazareth. This they were compelled to leave in 
1740, by the discontent of the Indians. Soon after, on the 
arrival of the remainder from Georgia, under bishop Nitsch- 
man, the brethren purchased a tract of about four thousand 
acres on the Lehigh river, where, in 1741,* they laid the 
foundation of the present town of Bethlehem. Two years 
afterwards, they also purchased of Mr. Whitfield the tract at 
Nazareth. 

In December, 1741, count Zinzendorff visited Pennsylva- 
nia, and commenced his missionary labours at Germantown. 
He invited the governor to send to his meetings, witnesses, 
understanding the English and German languages, who might 
report their true character. He preached with great success, 
and received a call, as a Lutheran minister, to the church in 
Philadelphia, on the nineteenth of May, by the name of 
Mons. De Thuernstein, a divine of Turbingen. He assumed 
this name, belonging to the counts of Zinzendorff, and a few 
days after laid down his title of count, in presence of the 
governor, and a respectable assemblage of citizens, " that his 
rank and title might not be maltreated, to the disadvantage 
and dissatisfaction of his family, through the reproach and 
calumnies, which he, as a servant of Christ, neither could nor 
would avoid." His call was not an harmonious one. Divi- 
sions grew in the church, and his adjunct, Christopher Pyr- 
IcEus, was dragged from the pulpit of the reformed Lutherans, 
in Philadelphia. The count presided at several conferences, 
at which he endeavoured, not very successfully, to unite the 
several German sects in Pennsylvania. And he displayed great 
zeal and industry in visiting and converting the Indians; but 
the number of his converts was inconsiderable. In this la- 
bour, Conrad Weiser served him as interpreter. In 1643, 
he returned to Europe, having animated the zeal of the bre- 
thren for the propagation of their faith. 

The industry, economy, and morality of these pious men, 
tended greatly to promote their increase in numbers and wealth. 
Beside the towns of Bethlehem and Nazareth, ^settlements 

• March 9th. 



584 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

were commenced at several places in their vicinity: at Gna- 
denhulten, Gnadenthal, Friedenshal, Christiansbrun,and else- 
where; they had a church and congregation at Philadelphia, 
another at Lancaster, and a fine establishment, called Litz, in 
the neighbourhood of the latter city. They had colonies also 
in New York, New Jersey, and North Carolina. Their town 
of Bethlehem consisted of private houses, in which the mar- 
ried members of the fraternity resided; quoir houses, large 
and spacious, for the several unmarried classes of the commu- 
nity, and the congregational inn, reputed one of the best in 
the province. Music was the chief amusement of the bre- 
thren, and their principal medium of devotion, and they ac- 
quired great skill in that delightful art. 

The great success of the society in the education of youth 
of both sexes, occasioned them to be extensively employed 
in this delicate and important trust, at Bethlehem and Litz; 
public schools having been established by them at both places. 

The Moravian labours for the conversion of the Indians, 
though unremitted, have not been very successful. In 1772, 
not more than seven hundred and twenty Indians had been 
baptized, after the exertions of thirty years. But several 
tribes have been instructed by them in the arts of civilization, 
and we would fain hope have been improved in their moral 
condition. 

IV. The financial system of Pennsylvania was simple in 
its construction, atad inconsiderable in the amount of its pro- 
duct. The population, in 1776, was estimated at above three 
hundred thousand souls. The annual expense of the govern- 
ment, the burdens arising from the war and county and town- 
ship expenses not included, was 3290/. currency, equal to 
^8774 66; imposing a contribution of less than thirty cents 
on each inhabitant, for the ordinary charges. 

The extraordinary charges were temporary, and were oc- 
casionally considered heavy, and produced some murmurs. 
The war of 1756, with the French, and that of 1764, with 
the Indians, created a large debt, exceeding 500,000/., which 
required a long continuance of taxes to discharge. The an- 
nual provincial income may be stated at 42,120/., which, after 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVA^flA. 585 

deducting the necessary sum for the ordhiary expenditure, 
was appropriated to the reduction of the debt, by the redemp- 
tion of the bills of credit which had been issued for tempo- 
rary purposes. Taxes for county and township objects, were 
levied at the discretion of the inhabitants of those districts 
respectively.* 

* The following statement of the provincial charges and income, was 
made by governor John Penn, in 1767, in a letter to the earl of Shelburne, 
and is entered on the minutes of council: 

Ordinary charges : 



Lieutenant-governor's salary, 


£1000 


Chief justice, do. 


200 


Puisne judges of the supreme court. 


100 


Attorney-general, 


75 


Clerk of council, 


15 




1590 


Assembly, 


800 


Do. for extra services to sundry members, 




principally for preparing bills. 


150 


Provincial agent. 


350 


Clerk of assembly. 


200 


Printing, 


100 


Postage, 


70 


Keeper of great seal, for affixing seal to 




laws, 


15 


Clerk of governor's council, on account of 




warrants. 


15 


Master of rolls, for recording laws, 


30 


Barrack-master at Philadelphia, 


50 


Do. at Lancaster, 


40 


Clock -maker, for care of clock. 


50 


Doorkeeper to council. 


5 


Do. to assembly. 


25 



-1900 



£3290 



Provincial receipts: 

Interest on loan of 150,000/., at 5 per cent., £7,500 

Excise on wine, spirits, &c. at 4rf. per gallon, 5,000 

Tax on real and personal estate, and polls, 28,000 

Duty on negroes, 650 

Duty on tonnage, at 6d. per ton, special Ij- appro- 
priated to the maintainance of a light and buoys 
in the bay, 970 



74 



£42,120 



586 HISTOHY OF PENNSYLVANIA, 

V. The tonnage of Pennsylvania was estimated, In 1774,. 
at 46,972 tons; and there were entered and cleared at the 
port of Philadelphia in the preceding year, four hundred and 
twenty-six square rigged vessels, and three hundred and 
seventy sloops and schooners. Her exports, consisting of the 
produce of the colonies generally, and of articles from the 
West Indies, Madeira, and Canary Isles, amounted, on the 
average of three years, ending with 1773, to 712,000/. ster- 
ling, of which only about 37,000/. was directly to Great Bri- 
tain. Her imports, on a like average, amounted to 600,000/. 
per annum, of which 426,448/. were from Great Britain. The 
chief articles of export were grain, flour, flaxseed, timber, 
iron, in pigs and bars, beef and pork. The balance in favour 
of Great Britain was paid by the proceeds of shipments to the 
West Indies, Portugal, Spain, and the Mediterranean, made 
in vessels built in Pennsylvania; the latter were frequently 
sold with their cargoes, and formed a large item of the export 
trade, not included in the custom house reports. In 1772-3, 
there were exported, of flour, three hundred and twenty-five 
thousand barrels; of bread, forty-eight thousand one hundred 
and eighty-three; of wheat, one hundred and eighty-two 
thousand three hundi'ed and ninety-one bushels; of Indian 
corn, one hundred and seventy-nine thousand two hundred 
and seventeen bushels; of beef, pork, and hams, nine thou- 
sand six hundred and forty-nine barrels; of iron, one thousand 
five hundred and sixty-four tons; of flaxseed, eighty-eight 
thousand two hundred and ninety-five bushels, &c.* 

The restrictions of Great Britain on American com- 
merce were many and burdensome. So early as 1621, an 
order of the king in council declared that no tobacco or other 
productions of the colonies should be carried into any foreign 
ports, until they were first landed in England, and the duties 
paid thereon. In 1651, the celebrated navigation act, to which 
England owes much of her commercial and maritime great- 
■ness, was passed. This act, confirmed by the 12 Charles II. 

• The reader may find in 2 Proud, 271, some instructive statistical tables, 
of exports from the province. We have given above the chief articles 
which were of Pennsylvania origin. 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 587 

1660, restricted the trade with the plantations, as well as with 
other parts of the world, to English built ships belonging to 
English subjects ; with the exception of such articles of mer- 
chandise as should he imported directly from the original 
places of their growth or manufacture in Europe, only. The 
latter act directed, that sugars, tobacco, cotton, wool, indigo, 
ginger, fustic, and other dye-woods, should be carried only 
to England, Ireland, or Wales, or to other British planta- 
tions; and subsequent acts of parliament, included in the list 
of prohibited commodities, most other articles of commerce. 
Not contented with thus confining the colonial export trade 
to the parent country, parliament, in 1663, limited their im- 
port trade in the same manner, declaring" that no commodity 
of the growth or manufacture of Europe shall be imported 
into any of the king's plantations, which are, or shall he, in 
Asia, Africa, or America, but what shall have been shipped 
in England, Wales, or town of Berwick, and in English built 
shipping, whereof the master and three-fourths of the marines 
are English, and carried directly thence to the said planta- 
tions." 

The p»olicy of establishing colonies is declared, by the pre- 
amble of that act, "that they might be beneficial and advan- 
tageous to England, in the employment and increase of 
English shipping and seamen, the vent of English woollens, 
and other manufactures and commodities, rendering the navi- 
gation to and from the same safe and cheap, and making this 
kingdom a staple not only of the commodities of those plan- 
tations, but also ofother countries and places supplying them." 
More effectually to enforce this act, llic governors of the 
colonies were required to take an oath to do their utmost to 
cause the same to be obeyed; and if, after having taken such 
oath, they failed in the duty imposed by it, they were not 
only to be removed from office, and be rendered incapable of 
governing any colony, but were to forfeit one tliousand 
pounds. These acts still left the trade and intercourse be- 
tween the colonies free; but this privilege remained to them 
for a short period only. In 1672, duties were imposed on 
many commodities trans[)orted from one colony to another. 



588 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

The same jealous spirit which confined the commercial 
energies of the colonies, restricted their advancement in manu- 
factures and the arts. The handicrafts, which were indispensa- 
ble for the supply of agricultural implements, the purposes of 
simple architecture, and other primitive wants, took vigorous 
root in Pennsylvania immediately on the foundation of the 
city. Many of the first settlers were mechanics, who found 
ample employment in supplying the wants generated by the 
rapid progress of the infant city. The Indian trade supplied 
furs for hatters, and skins soon became abundant for the work- 
ers in leather. The wood of the country, its walnut, maple, 
oak, ash, and cherry, furnished material for carpenters, joiners, 
wheel-wrights and wagon makers; and in the skill of their 
imported servants, especially the Germans, the colonists soon 
found the means to supply almost all their wants of first 
necessity, with many of the comforts and some of the luxu- 
ries of the mechanic arts. So remarkable was the industry 
and success of the colonists in these branches, that complaints 
were made to parliament by interested individuals, that their 
progress was detrimental to Great Britain. The parent state, 
with great maternal kindness to her children at home, but 
with the indifference of a step-mother for those abroad, readily 
adopted measures to check their envied prosperity. So early 
as 1699, the wool, yarn, and woollen manufactures of the 
colonies were forbidden " to be shipped there, or even laden, 
in order to be transported from thence to any place what- 
ever." And in 1719, the commons declared, "that the 
erecting manufactories in the colonies tended to lessen their 
dependanceon Great Britain." In 1733, hats were subjected 
to the same restrictions as woollen manufactures, and hatters 
were forbidden to employ more than two apprentices at once, 
or any black or negro, at their trade, or to make hats, unless 
they had served an apprenticeship of seven years. In 1750, 
whilst pig and bar iron were allowed to be imported, duty 
free, to Great Britain, the colonists were denied the privilege 
of erecting any mill or other engine for slitting or rolling 
iron, or nny plating forge to work with a lilt hammer, or any 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 589 

furnace for making steel, under the penalty of two hundred 
pounds. The restrictions on the manufacture of iron were 
grievous, and were frequently complained of; but the prohi- 
bition to export manufactures of wool and fur, were not 
onerous in a country which consumed much more than its 
own labourers could supply, and did not at all interfere with 
domestic manufactures, properly so called. In Pennsylvania 
every substantial farmer, and most of his labourers, manufac- 
tured their ordinary clothing; strong linen shirts, striped 
linseys, and coarse, but strong and durable cloths, left them 
in no want of foreign aid, except for the holyday suit. Among 
the exports of Pennsylvania, immediately prior to the revo- 
lution, loaf sugar, soap, candles, beer arid starch, in conside- 
rable quantities, are enumerated ; and we may also mention 
again, the noble manufacture of ships, which distinguished 
the city. The extensive manufacture of ships includes many 
accessaries. The smith, the rope-maker, sail-maker, carpen- 
ter, joiner, &c. must have possessed skill and capital to attain 
the distinguished reputation they enjoyed. 

VI. In speaking of the literature of a people whose whole 
time was almost indispensable for obtaming the first necessa- 
ries and comforts of life, it might be sufficient praise to say, 
that the love of letters was never extinguished. But much 
and early attention was given to this important subject ; and 
if education was not as general among the inhabitants of 
Pennsylvania, as among those of New England, it should be 
ascribed rather to the heterogeneous character of her popula- 
tion, which even yet is not perfectly amalgamated, than to a 
want of due consideration of its value. In 1683, before our 
ancestors had covered themselves from the weather, a school 
was opened in the city of Philadelphia.* Within six years 
afterwards, the Friends' public school was established, and 
in lf)97, it received from the proprietary its firsit charter of 
incorporation, which was enlarged in 1708 and 1711. 

Other schools were also established before \69S. A pub- 

■ .lournals oi council. 



590 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

lie school or academy was opened at Germantovvn before 
1749, and a building was commenced by subscription, which 
was afterwards finished by lottery. In 1749, the academy 
and charitable school in Philadelphia was originated, and 
chartered by the proprietaries. In 1755 a college was engrafted 
on the original academy, and a new charter was granted, in- 
corporating " the college, academy, and charitable school of 
Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania," andgrantingto this institution 
the power to appoint professors, and confer degrees in the 
various arts and sciences. In 1764 the foundation of the 
present medical school was laid, and professors appointed in 
anatomy, botany, chemistry, the materia medica, the theory 
and practice of physic, and for the delivery of clinical lectures. 
This institution, afterwards erected into an university, was 
guided and directed by the intelligence, zeal, and public spi- 
rit of its provost. Dr. William Smith. 

" Within four years from the time our ancestors landed in 
the wilderness, a printing press was at work in Philadelphia, 
sowing broad-cast the seed of knowledge and morality."* 
This press was owned and conducted by William Bradford, 
and an almanack was printed on it in 1687. During the 
Keithean controversy, many polemical pamphlets were pub- 
lished, and the native literature of the province was pretty 
much confined to sectarian or political squabbles, in which, to 
the praise of the constitution be it spoken, much ink, but no 
blood was shed. Before the year 1697, a paper mill was 
erected in the province, near Germantown, by an ancestor of 
the celebrated Riltenhouse. 

In 1719, a newspaper, the American Weekly Mercury, 
was first published by Andrew Bradford. Nine years after- 
wards, Keimer published a second newspaper, called the 
" Universal Instructer in all Arts and Sciences, and Pennsyl- 
vania Gazette," which laboured feebly under the neglect and 
inability of its first proprietor, but became a vigorous and 
efficient journal when subsequently owned and directed by 
Franklin. In 17(^9 a German paper was published at Ger- 

* Notes on the literature of Pennsylvania, by T. 1. Wharton. 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 591 

mantown, and in the succeeding year, another at Philadel- 
phia, by J, Crellius, under the direction of Dr. William 
Smith. The Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser 
was issued on the second of December, 1742, and several 
other journals shortly after arose with various success. In 
1760 there were five newspapers published in the province, 
all weekly: three of them in the city, one in Germantown, 
and one in Lancaster. Between 1741 and 1776, several ma- 
gazines were attempted, none of which lived more than a 
year, except the Pennsylvania Magazine, printed by Aiken, 
and edited by the celebrated Thomas Paine, which flourished 
about eighteen months. 

To Franklin, Pennsylvania is indebted for many institu- 
tions and improvements. Upon his suggestion, the college 
was founded, and in 1 744 the American philosophical society 
was established. Out of a literary association formed by him, 
grew also the Philadelphia library, to which the present 
moral and literary character of Philadelphia may be justly 
ascribed. In 1769, the philosophical society having been 
joined by another association for promoting useful knowledge, 
established in 1766, was new modelled, retaining its former 
title. The first volume of its transactions, containing obser- 
vations on the transit of Venus in June, 17G9, has been high- 
ly praised by the learned of Europe. 

In most of the sciences and liberal arts, Pennsylvania 
possessed before the revolution distinguished men. Thomas 
Lloyd, David Lloyd, James Logan, Pastorius, Kelpius, and 
others of the early settlers, had the advantages of classical 
education, and were no mean scholars. James Logan was 
distinguished by his writings in the Latin tongue, and by his 
encouragement of literary and ingenious men. His library, 
which would have been worthy of note, as the collection of a 
private scholar, of limited means, in Europe, now forms a 
conspicuous part of the Philadelphia library, to which he w;is 
otherwise a great benefactor. In the academy, the zealous 
and learned provost, Dr. William Smith, who was esteemed 
in Europe and America, was aided by men of competent 
learning, such as Francis Allison, Beverly, Grew, and others. 



592 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

In matliematics and astronomy, Pennsylvania possessed 
Thomas Godfrey, the inventor of the (Hadley's) quadrant, 
the provost Smith, Dr. John Ewing, John Lukens, Andrew 
Ellicott, and Thomas Hutchins, and above all, the self-formed 
Rittenhouse, who, as a mechanician and astronomer, was 
second to none on earth. 

In botany and natural history, the name of John Bartram, 
F. R. S. said, by Linnaeus, to have been the greatest natural 
botanist in the world, stands pre-eminent. In the same de- 
partment his son became also distinguished, and their favour- 
ite science was systematically taught in the Philadelphia 
college, by Dr. Adam Kuhn, a renowned pupil of the great 
Swedish naturalist. 

Medical science was early and constantly cultivated in 
Pennsylvania. Thomas Wynne and his brother settled in 
Philadelphia in 1662. They were succeeded by other able 
practitioners, among whom was Dr. Griffith Owens. He died 
in 1717. In the same year Dr. Graeme settled in Philadel- 
phia. Dr. Lloyd Zachary, much distinguished and beloved, 
was his cotemporary. To these may be added the names of 
Doctors Kearsly, senior and junior, Cadwallader Evans, and 
the brothers, Thomas and Phineas Bond. Doctors William 
Shippen and John Morgan are remembered as the founders 
of the medical school of Philadelphia; and Dr. Benjamin 
Rush, the learned and able professor of the institutes of medi- 
cine, is known to both hemispheres as a man of general learn- 
ing, originality in his profession, and as a statesman and 
philanthropist. 

In moral and natural philosophy, and in the science of the 
world, the venerable Franklin was unrivalled; with his name 
may be joined those of Dickinson and Hamilton, both re- 
markable for correct political views, and distinguished for 
their forensic eloquence. 

Nor is provincial Pennsylvania altogether without claims 
to proficiency in poetry. Neither the Latin poems of Mackin, 
nor the more meritorious ones of Beveridge, are entitled to 
much consideration; but that the one was encouraged to write, 
and the other to publish poems, in a dead language, at the 



HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 593 

periods of their respective laboirrs, is honourable to thfe pro- 
vince. Watson and Osborne were early poets, whose names 
have been rescued from oblivion by the memoirs of Frank- 
lin; and Ralph also, an associate of the philosopher, acquired 
reputation in London as an historian, and earned, perhaps by 
the caustic quality of his poetry, the lash of Pope, who has 
twice introduced him into the Dunciad. Thomas Godfrey, 
the younger, and his cotemporary and friend, Nathaniel 
Evans, were poets of taste and feeling, who died young, be- 
fore their minds were disciplined and matured. The works 
of both have been collected and published. Francis Hopkin- 
son claims a distinguished place in Pennsylvania history, as 
a poet, a wit, a mathematician, a chemist, a judge and pa- 
triot. His works were chiefly of a fugitive character, and 
originally appeared in the magazines and newspapers; but 
after his death, were collected and published in three volumes. 



75 



APPEIVDIX. 



NOTE A.— Paob 7. 

The Hudson, like most distinguished streams of our country, has borne 
many Indian and other names. It would seem that the several tribes on its 
shores gave it different names, most probably in reference to diflerent parts 
of the river, which have been taken by the Europeans as the proper names 
of the stream. Thus it was called Manahattu, from an Indian nation near 
its mouth, bearing that namej Mahakaneghtac, or Mohican-nittuck and Mo- 
hegan, from the Mohicans; Shattemuck, perhaps a corruption of the former; 
Cohetaba by the Iroquois, {See Moulton's New York, and authorities there 
cited.) By the Dutch and English it was termed the North, to distin- 
guish it from the Delaware, or South, river, and also the Hudson. These 
appellations are now indiscriminately given to it, by the whole American 
people. The Dutch also called it Mauritius river, in honour of their stadt- 
holder, prince Maurice. It was known by the name of the Riviere de Man- 
tagnes, from the highlands, through which it ran. This was supposed to 
have been derived from the Spaniards; but professor Ebeling thinks it 
a corruption from Manahattaiia. 

B.— 10. 

The Delaware river was also known by several names among the Indians. 
Poutaxat, (See Campanius,) Murisqueton, Makeriskilton, and Mukerisk-kis- 
kon, (See 2 Smith's Laws of Pennsylvania, 110,) Lenape-wihittuck, (^See 
Heckewelder's Account of the Indians,) or the stream of the Lenape. By 
the Dutch it was called Zuydt, or Soutli river, Nassau river, Prince Hen- 
dricks, or Charles' river; by the Swedes, New Swedeland stream; and by 
the English, Delaware river. There is some doubt in regard to the origin 
of the latter name. Campanius says it was so named after Mons. De la 
Warre, a captain under Jacques Chartier; and that it was discovered in 1600. 
If this be true, it is singular and curious tliat it should have received the 
same name from two persons of different nations, each giving it his own. 
For Thomas West, lord Delaware, is said to liave discovered this river, on 
his passage to Virginia, in 1610, and to have given it his name. Stitli (Hist, 
of Virginia, ) informs us, that on his second voyage, in 1618, lord Delaware 
died near tlie moutli of the Delaware bay, which thence took its name from 
him. In Heylin's Cosmography, originally written in 1648, but continued 
by Edward Bohun to 1703, this river is called Arasupha. 

C.-U 

It seems undoubtedly true, that the Delaware bay anrl river, below the 
falls, were entirely abandoneil by the Dutch in 163U, But it it. possible 



596 APPENDIX. 

that the Minisink settlements on the Delaware, above the Kittatiny or 
Blue mountain, were made before that time, and were never discontinued. 
This settlement extends forty miles, on both sides of the river. Tra- 
dition, as rendered by Nich. Depuis, a descendant of an original settler, 
says, " That, in some former age, there came a company of miners from 
Holland, who were supposed to be rich and great people, from the great 
labour they had expended in opening two mines, one on the Delaware, 
where the mountain nearly approaches the lower point of Peraquarry Flat, 
the otherat the north foot of some mountain, near half-way between Delaware 
and Esopus: and in making the mine road from Delaware to Esopus, a dis- 
tance of one hundred miles. That large quantities of ore had been drawn 
upon this road, but it was not known among the present inhabitants whe- 
ther of lead or silver." 

" That the first settlers of the Minisinks came from Holland to seek a 
place of quiet, being persecuted for their religion: that they were Armi- 
nians. They followed the mine road to the large flats on the Delaware: that 
here the smooth cleared land, and an abundance of large apple trees suited 
their views: that they bona Jide bought the improvements of the native 
Indians, most of whom then removed to the Susquehannah, and that, with 
such as remained, there was peace and friendship until the year 1755." 

In 1729, it is said that the government of Pennsylvania first became ac- 
quainted with the settlements at Minisink: they declared, by law, that pur- 
chases made there from the Indians should be void; and that the purchaser 
should be indicted for forcible entry and detainer, according to the laws of 
England. (I have not, in my researches, discovered this act.) 

Nicholas Scull, surveyor-general, was appointed by the government to 
visit the settlement and investigate the facts. He made his visit, accom- 
panied by John Luken, in 1730. " The Minisink flats were all settled with 
Hollanders; with several they coidd only be understood in Indian. At the 
venerable Samuel Depui's, they found great hospitality, and plenty of the 
necessaries of life." The admiration of the visiters was much excited by a 
grove of apple trees, of size far beyond any near Philadelphia. 

" S. Depui told them, that, when the rivers were frozen, he had a good 
road to Esopus from the mine holes, on the mine road, some hundred miles; 
that he took his wheat and cider there for salt and necessaries; and did not 
appear to have any knowledge or idea where the river ran, Philadelphia 
market, or being in the government of Pennsylvania. 

"They were of opinion that the first settlements of the Hollanders in 
Minisink were many years older than VViUiam Penn's charter. As S. De- 
pui had treated them so well, they concluded to make a survey of his claim, 
in order to befriend him if necessary. When they began to survey, the 
Indians gathered round: an old Indian laid his hand on N. Scull's siioulder, 
and said, 'put up iron string; go home:' that they quit and returned." — 
Letters from Sumuel Preston of Stockport, June 6 and 14, 1828, published in 
the Register of Pennsylvania, vol. i. No. 28, July 12, 1828. 

We are assured by Lindstrom, that a silver mine existed on the eastern 
shore of the Delaware, in tlie vicinity of tlie falls; and that gold was found 
in considerable quantities higher up the river, on the Jersey side. " Tlie 
shore before the mountain is covered with pyrites. When the roundest are 
broken, kernels are found as large as small peas, containing virgin silver. I 
have broken more than a hundred. A savage Unapois beholding a gold ring 
of the wife of governor Printz, demanded, why she carritc/ such a trifle. The 
governor replied, "if you will procure me such trifles, I will reward you 
with other things suitable for you." "f know," said the Indian, " a mountain 
filled with such metal." " Behold," rejoined the governor, "what I will 



APPENDIX. 597 

give you for a specimen;" presenting to him at the same time a fathom of 
red and a fathom of blue frize, some white lead, looking-glasses, bodkins, 
and needles, declaring, that he would cause him to be accompanied by two 
of his soldiers. But the Indian, refusing this escort, said, that he would 
first go for a specimen, and, if it gave satisfaction, he might be sent back 
with some of the governor's people. He promised to give a specimen, 
kept the presents, and went away; and, after some days, returned with a 
lump of ore as large as liis doubled fist, of which the governor made proof, 
found it of good quality, and extracted from it a considerable quantity of 
gold, which he manufactured into rings and bracelets. He promised the 
Indian fiu'ther presents, if he would discover the situation of this mountain. 
The Indian consented, but demanded a delay of a few days, wlien he could 
spare more time. Content with this, Printz gave liiin more presents. The 
savage, having returned to his nation, boasted of liis gifts, and declared 
the reason of their presentation. But he was assassinated by the sachem 
and his companions, lest he sliould betray the situation of tliis gold mine; 
tiiey fearing its ruin if it were discovered by us. It is still unknown." — Ex- 
tract from Lindstrum' s MS. Journal. Am. Phil. Soc. 

E.— 25. 

The following is the frame of government designed for this vice-royalty: 
" First, the lord head governor, a deputy-governor, secretary of estate, or 
seal-keeper, and twelve of the council of state or upper house; and these, 
or five of them, is also a chancery court. Next, out of counties and towns, at 
a free election, and day prefixed, thirty burgesses or commons; once yearly, 
the 10th of November, these meet as a parliament, or grand assembly, and 
make laws. Sic. — Appeals are here also tried, all criminal cases for life, above 
only by two juries, or actions at law a jury on either side may be called, and 
by them tried; and any before judgment may stop the law and be tried in 
equity. The two months' court may try, before four justices of peace, any 
action not exceedinglO/. or 1500 lbs. of tobacco, at 4s. charge only, and plead 
without atturney: an appeal lyeth thence to each quarter, or chancery first 
court above, and from thence an appeal to the grand assembly; any matter 
under 40.s. value, or 200 lbs. of tobacco, to be ended by the next justice, 
at Is. charge; no deposition to be taken but before two jiisiices, w liereof 
one of the quorum, or in court, or before a council, or of estate: and here 
is no jeofails, nor demurrers, but summary hearing, and a slierilf and clerk 
of court, with small fees, ends all, for the most part, in a few words." 

On religious subjects, the views of the adventurers were liberal for the 
age. Our author says, " For religion, it being iu England yet unsettled, 
several translations of Bibles, and those expounded to each man's fancy, 
breeds new sects, I conceive the Holland way, now practised, best to con- 
tent all parties; first, by act of parliament, or grand assembly, to settle and 
establish all the fundamentals necessary to salvation, as the three creeds, 
the ten commandments, preaching on the Lord's day, and great days, and 
catechizing in the afternoon, the sacrament of the altar, and baptisme; but 
no persecution to any dissenting, and to all such, as to the Walloons, free 
chapels; and to punish all, as seditious, and for contempt, as bitter rail and 
condemn others of tiie contrary; for this argument or perswasion, all re- 
ligion, ceremonies, or church discipline, should be acted in mildness, love, 
and charity, and gentle language, not to disturb the peace or quiet of the 
inhabitants, but therein to obey the civil magistrutc." 

Among other inducements to adventurers, the following description is 
given of a yjart of the country: " Not far oflf are rich lead mines, contain- 
ing silver tried, and iron stone, and by it, waters and falls to drive them, in 
an uninhabited desert; no Christians or Indians ncer it; where elkes, staggos, 
and deer, are most quiet, most fut, and n«t (Ustuibcd, so as five men, in tiirec 



598 APPENDIX. 

or four days, kill and salt sixty deer, or a hundred and twenty sides, for sum- 
mer's food; four or five hundred turkeys in a flock, swans, hoopers, geese, 
ducks, teles, and other fovvles, a mile square, and seven mile together, on 
the shores, for here is ail chesnuts, wallnuts, and mastberries, and March 
seeds, wild oates, and vetches, to feed them. Neer hand is also, in August, 
custard-apples, and papawes, to make the best periy English, for 100 tuns 
in a place, and all plums, hurtle-berries, black clierries, wilde anniseed, 
persimenas, and other dainty fruits and roots are had, as in all the hugh 
long meads and marshes, sweet seg-roots, ground nuts, lucaho and cuttina- 
men roots for hogs, and whole wan-ens, and berries of sweet muskrats; and 
here black bears and lions, feeding on sweet foods, are killed and eaten. 
By the head of Chesapeake river, by Tompkins and Walton, was seen a 
camel mare, brown-black, seven feet high, of which three hundred mile 
westward are stores; their skins, brought and sold by the Indians, confirm 
it." 

The cost of equipping and transporting a man to this country, was esti- 
mated at \0L: and "all adventurers of 500/. to bring fifty men, shall have 
five thousand acres, and a manor with royalties, at 5s. rent, and whosoever 
is willing so to transport himself or servant, at \0l. per man, shall for each 
man have one hundred acres freely granted for ever, and at, may be 

instructed how in a month to pass, and in twenty days to get fit servants, 
and artificers, for wages, diet, and clothes, and apprentices, according to 
the three statutes 5 Eliz., all wliich, after five years' sei-vices, are to have 
thirty acres of free land, and some stock, and bee freeholders." 

BoUNDARt OF THE GbaSTT TO THE DfKE OF YoRK. 

The following was the boundary of the grant to the duke of York in 
1674. All that part of the main land of New England, beginning at a cer- 
tain place culled or known by the name of St. Croix, next adjoining to 
New Scotland, in America; and from thence, extending along the sea-coast, 
xinto a certain place, Pemaque or Pemaquid, and so up the river thereof to 
the furthermost head of the same, as it leadeth northward; and extending 
from thence to the river of Kimbequin, and so upwards and by the shortest 
route to the river of Canada northward: and also all that island or islands 
commonly called by the several name or names Meitowacks, or Long island, 
situate and lying towards the west of Cape Cod, and the narrow Higansetts, 
abutting upon the main land between the two rivers, there called or known 
by the several names of Connecticut and Hudson rivers; and all the land 
from the west side of Connecticut river to the east side of the Delaware bay; 
and also all those several islands called or known by the name of Martin's 
Vineyard, or Nantuck, otherwise Nantucket, &c. 

F.— 35. 

This was tlie Indian money, by the natives called wampum, an Iroquois 
word, meaning a muscle; by the Dutch sewant. It is worked out of shells 
into the form of beads, and perforated to string on leather. Six beads 
were formally valued at a stiver, twenty stivers made a guilder, valued at 
six-pence curreftcy, or four-pence sterling. The white wampum was 
worked out of the inside of the great conques. The black or purple was 
formed from the clam or muscle shell. These strung on leather formed 
strings; and several strings, increased according to the importance of the 
occasion, formed a belt of wampum. — 1 Proud, 134. 

Before the advent of the Europeans, the Indians made their strings and 
belts chiefly of small pieces of wood, stained black or white. For want of 
proper tools, few were made of shells, though such were highly valued. But 
tlie Europeans soon manufactured them of the latter material, neatly, and in 



APPEMDIX. 599 

gfreat abundance, which they used with great adrantag^ in their trade with 
the Indians, and caused the disuse of the wooden beads. 

Among the Indians, the wealth of an individuiU was computed from the 
quantity he possessed of this article. It was used not only as a medium of 
commercial exchange, but for the registry of important public and private 
transactions, and as an instrument of solemn communication between tribe 
and tribe, by which their messages were explained and preserved, and their 
agreements sanctioned. 

G.— 36. 

The magistrates appointed by commission of Andross for one year were, 

For the up-river jurisdiction, Peter Cock, Peter liambo, Israel Holme, 
Laes Andriesson Woole, Swaine Otto, Earnest Cock. 

For the jurisdiction of Newcastle and its dependencies, John Moll, Henry 
Ward, William Tomm, William Foppe Outhout, John PaulJaquett, Garrett 
Otto. 

For the jurisdiction at Hoarkill, Hermanus Wlltbank, Edward Southcrew, 
Alexander Moleston, John King, and Pavil Mash. 

Three of these justices formed a quorum. 

H.— 49. 

The rights exercised by the Mengwe over the Delawares, &c., were 
certainly those of conquest. They maintained their right to the lands far 
south of New York, and east and west of the Allegheny mountains. In 
1768, the king of England purchased from the Six nations the country 
between the Virginia parallels of latitude west of these mountains. And 
these tribes also claimed the soil of Pennsylvania, but frequently gave large 
portions of the consideration received at sales, to tlie Delawares, whom they 
always reproved for their presumption, when they attempted to sell lands 
in their own right. A memorable instance of this occui-red at a treaty with 
governor Thomas at Philadelphia, in 1742. A dispute existed between the 
proprietaries and a tribe of tlie Delawares, relative to a purchase of lands 
in the forks of the Delaware, usually called the walking purchase. The 
latter not only refused to yield the lands they had sold, but threatened to 
maintain possession by force. Under these circumstances, the influence 
of the Six nations was solicited by governor Thomas. They sent down 
two hundred and thirty warriors. At the council then held, Canassalego, 
a Mengwe chief, "in the name of the deputies, told the governor, 'That 
they saw the Delawares had been an unruly people, and were altogether 
in the wrong; that they had concluded to remove them, and oblige them 
to go over the river Delaware, and quit all claim to any lands on this side 
for the future, since they had received pay for them, and it is gone through 
their guts long ago. They deserved,' he said, 'to be taken by the hair of 
the head, and shaken severely, till they recovered their senses, and became 
sober; that he had seen with his eyes a deed signed by nine of their ances- 
tors above fifty years ago for this very land, (1686,) and a release signed 
not many years since, (1737,) by some of themselves, and chiefs yet liv- 
ing, {Nutimus and Sassoonan then present,) to the number of fifteen and 
upwards; but how come you,' continued he to the Delawares, 'to take 
upon you to sell lands at all' We conquered you; we made women of 
you; you know you are women, and can no more sell land than women; 
nor is it fit you should have the power of selling lands, since you would 
abuse it. This land that you claim is gone througli your guts; you have 
been furnished with clothes, meat, and drink, by the goods paid you for it, 
and now you want it again, like children as you are. But what makes you 
«ell lands in the dark' Did you ever tell us that you had sold this land' Did 
wc ever receive any part, even the value of a pipe shank, from vow for it' 



600 APPENDI51. 

You have told us a blind story, that you sent a messenger to us, to inform us 
of the sale; but he never came amongst us, nor did we ever hear any thing 
about it. This is acting in the dark, and very different from the conduct 
our Six nations observe in the sales of land. On such occasions, they give 
public notice, and invite all the Indians of tfieir united nations, and give 
them all a share of the present tliey receive for their lands. This is the 
behaviour of the wise united nations. But we find you are none of our 
blood; you act a dishonest part, not only in this, but in other matters; your 
ears are ever open to slanderous reports about your brethren. For all these 
reasons, we charge you to remove instantly; we don't give you liberty to think 
about it. You are women. Take the advice of a wise man, and remove 
instantly. You may return to the other side of Delaware, where you came 
from; but we do not know whether, considering how you have demeaned 
yourselves, you will be permitted to live there, or whether you have not 
swallowed that land down your throats, as well as the land on this side. 
We, therefore, assign you two places to go to, either to Wyoming or Sha- 
mokin. You may go to either of tiiese places, and then we shall have you 
more under our eye, and sliall see how you behave. Don't deliberate, but 
remove away, and take this belt of wampum.' He then forbid them ever 
to intermeddle in land affairs, or ever tliereafter pretend to sell any land; 
and commanded them, as he had something to transact with the English, 
immediately to depart the council. 

"The Delawares dared not disobey this peremptory command. They 
immediately left the council, and soon after removed from tlie forks; some, 
it is said, went to Wyoming and Shamokin, and some to the Ohio." — 2 
Smith's Laws of Pennsylvania. 

Ata conference holden at Philadelphia, May 19, 1712, by governor Gookin, 
with the Delawares, they acknowledged that they had been conquered by 
the Five nations, and that tiiey owed and paid them tribute. They ex- 
hibited to the governor a pipe, which they had received from their con- 
querors, which was a badge of vassalage, and symbol of protection against 
all who, i-ecognising the sign, sliould dare to molest the dependants of 
that haughty confederation. I'he Delawares also exhibited a belt, which, 
they said, was from one who at the time of their submission was an infant, 
an orphan son of a considerable man amongst them. The tribute on this 
occasion consisted of thirty-two wampum belts, sent by women principally, 
accompanied with some short and pithy sentiment of the donors, friendly 
to the Five nations, and expressive of gratitude for their protection. — 
Minutes of council of Pennsylvania. 

The following account, given by Cadwallader Golden, in his history of 
the Five nations, is altogether incompatible with the tradition of the Le- 
nape. " About the year 1664, the Five nations, being amply supplied with 
fire-arms and ammunition, gave a full swing to their warlike genius; they 
carried their arms as far south as Carolina, to the northward of New Eng- 
land, and as far west as the Mississippi, over a vast country, which extended 
twelve hundred miles in length, and six hundred in breadth; where they 
entirely destroyed whole nations, of whom there are no accounts remaining 
among the English." Governor Fownal speaks to the same effect, in his 
work entitled "the administration of the colonies." 

Such was the authority exercised by the Six nations over the Lenape, 
that the missionaries to the latter found it necessary for their safety to obtain 
the approbation of the former. — Hedt. Nar. 32. 

It is said, that the Five nations, having captured a part of the Shawanese 
tribe, on tlie Wabash, gave them permission, at the instance of William 
Penn, to settle in the western part of Pennsylvania, but obliged them, as 
a badge of cowardice and servitude, to wear female attire for a long time, 
and forbade them, as late as 1769, to appear ornamente<l with paint, at any 



AVPENDIXv 601 

general meeting where the confedenites attended. — De fViti CHnton's 
address before the New York Historicul Society, 1811, cites Rogers' concise 
account, &c. 

I.— 58. 

The power of taxation reserved to tlie British parliament, was specially 
referred to, in the house of hirds, (November 11th, 1775.) Upon the ex- 
amination of Mr Uithard Penn, in relation to American affairs. Lord Den- 
W\irh inqtiired oi' the witness, " \^'hether he knew there was a clause in the. 
Pennsylvania charter, which specifically subjected the colony to taxation 
by the British legislature. 

./?»«. He was well apprized that there was such a clause. 

Quest. Were the people of Pennsylvania content with their charter^ 

^ns. Perfectly content. 

Quest. Then did they not acquiesce in the right of the British parliament 
to enforce taxation^ 

^ns. They acquiesced in a declaration of the right, so long as they ex- 
perienced no inconvenience from the declaration. 

K.— 59. 

Among the passengers in the first ships, were John Otter, Nathaniel Al- 
len, and Rdmund I.ovett, and several servants of William Penn. Joseph 
Kirkbride was among the last, who afterwards became a person of great 
importance in the province — a magistrate, prcaclier among Friends, and 
oftentimes member of the assembly. He settled in Bucks county, where 
he died in January, 1737. — 1 Proud, 19,3. 

The curious reader may find in Proud's introduction, many notices of 
early settlers, the progenitors of families now widely extended. 

The name of Chester was given to Upland by William Penn, in honour 
of his friend Pearson, who was from a city of that name in F^ngland. 

" At this place, tlie Quakers had meetings for Divine worship regularly, 
from the year 1675, in which year Robert Wade and.divers others came 
over; at whose house the fir.st meeting of record at this place was held on 
the tenth of the 11th month, 1681. 

" Among the eminent persons of this society, who settled in and near 
this place in these early times, were Thomas Vernon, John Bewater, 'i'ho- 
mas Minshall, Bartholomew Coppack, John F.dge, &c.; David Jones, at 
Goshen; William Woodmanson, at Harold; John Simcocke, atllidley; Ni- 
cholas Newlin, &c.— 1 Proud, 218. 

L.— 65. 

The enjoyment of political rights over the territories, by the Peim family, 
was certainly singular. Tiie deeds of feoflnicnt from the duke of York 
conveyed no powers of government; nor docs it appear that William Penn 
relied upon them for maintaining his allcgeil light. In a lellor dated June 
10th, 1691, addressed to some friends in the province, he said, " I would 
also you should know I have a patent of the lower counties, some years 
since, that, when there is occasion for it, you m.ay allege so, but not other- 
wise."' It is difficult to conjecture a reason for concealing t!»is patent, 
since its jjroduction would have removed the principal reason urged at ra- 
rious times, both by the province and territories, for tlic separation into 
distinct governments; and would have taken away all grounds for the ca- 
bals which were occasionally formed in the territories against the proprie- 
tary power. Had such a patent existed, it is not pr(>l)ai)le that tlie earl of 
Sutherland would have applied for a grant of the territories in 1717, or that 

" 1 rinllll. JO-y X.ilr 

7f) 



602 APPENDIX. 

the crown would liave accompanied the ratification of the proprietary 
nomination of deputies, with a protest of its right over the territories. 
The acquiescence of the crown in this assumption of the Pennsylvania 
proprietaries, may be ascribed to the small value of the territorial govern- 
ment, the salary which it could pay to the deputy-governor, being inade- 
quate to his maintainance. 

M.— 66. 

Penn sailed in the ship Welcome, of three hundred tons burthen, Robert 
Greenaway, master. He embarked on the sixth of August, but did not 
get to sea until about the first of September, since he addressed a valedic- 
tory epistle to England, containing " a salutation to all faithful friends," 
dated the thirtieth of August. 1 have accordingly stated, in the text, the 
time of his departure to be September. — See note in 1 Proud, 218. 

N.— 74. 

I had prepared an elaborate note on the dispute relative to boundaries 
between Maryland and Pennsylvania; but the subject having but little in- 
terest, except for professional men, and that of a local nature, and being 
well treated in the memoir of James Dunlap, Esq. in the first number of 
the proceedings of the Penns3'lvania Historical Society, 1 have gladly dis- 
pensed with the note which was designed for this place. 

O.— 75. 

This tree was long revered by the colonists and Indians. During the 
revolutionary war the British general Simcoe, who was quartered at Ken- 
sington, so regarded it, that whilst his soldiers were felling the trees of the 
vicinity for fuel, he placed a sentinel under this, that not a branch of it 
might be touched. In 1810 it was blown down, and cups, and workstands, 
and other articles of furniture, were made from it, to be preserved as me- 
morials. It was then ascertained to be two hundred and eighty-three years 
old, having been one hundred and fifty-five years old at the time of the 
conference. — Notice hy sir B. West, reported by R. Vaux, esq., member of 
the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1825 — p. 97 — Clarkson. 

The Penn Society of Philadelphia, at the suggestion of li. Vaux, esq., 
have erected a marble monument on the spot where the *' Treaty Elm" 
stood, on the bank of the Delaware, near the intersection of Hanover and 
Beach streets, Kensington. The monument bears the following inscriptions: 

On the North. On the West. 

Treaty Ground Placed by the Penn 

of Society, 

William Penn A. D. 1827, 

and the To mark the site 

Indian natives, of the 

1682. Great Elm Tree. 

On the South. On the East. 

William Penn Pennsylvania, 

Born 1614. Founded 

Died 1718. 1681, 

By deeds of Peace. 

*' Our celebrated countryman, the late sir Benjamin West, executed in 
1775 an historical picture of the treaty of 1682, which he inscribed to the 
proprietaries of Pennsylvania. The original painting is in the possession 
of John Penn, Esq." " One of the five dignified individuals represented as 
present with the proprietary at that treaty, was the grandfather of West, 



APPENDIX. 603 

and the painter has given a hkeness of his ancestor in the imposing group 
of patriarchs." — Mem. of R. Faux, Esq. 

It has been doubted whether the conference between William Penn and 
the Indians, of the fourteenth of December, 1682, was holden under the 
Great Elm, at Shackamaxon, and whether it was accompanied by a formal 
treaty. If we suffer ourselves to doubt of these facts, historical tradition is 
unworthy of acceptance, and little credit can be given to ordinary historical 
testimony. 

William Penn lived in friendly and familiar intercourse with the Indians, 
and must have associated much with them, since in his letter to the com- 
mittee of the Free Society of Traders, the sixteenth of August, 1683. 
(1 Fraud, 246,) he observes, that he "made it his business to understand 
their language, that he might not want an interpreter on any occasion;" 
and it is probable that he held many conferences, more or less public, with 
the several tribes, who naturally sought a personal acquaintance with one 
who had power to serve them essentially. Some of these conferences were 
probably holden at Chester, some at Philadelphia, and others at Penns- 
bury. But the great conference held for the confirmation of the treaty of 
amity, made by the commissioners of the proprietary before his arrival, 
was holden at Shackamaxon on the fourteenth of December, 1682. This 
is confirmed by uncontradicted tradition for near a century and a half. 
Mr. Clarkson, who had a full opportunity of conferring with the Penn 
family, whilst regretting the want of written evidence on this subject, as- 
sures us that what he has advanced may be depended upon; and to him I 
am indebted for the principal facts I have stated in regard to the treaty. 
And it is probable that Mr. C. had from the family the fact, that the Indians, 
in 1722, at a conference held with governor Keith, exhibited the roll of 
parchment containing the treaty; and it would seem that a copy of the 
conference at least, held at the making of this treaty, was once in the office 
of the secretary of the commonwealth; since Mr. K. Conyngham assures 
me, that he discovered an envelope in a bundl'^ of papers there, relating to 
the Shawanese Indians, with the following endorsement: " Minutes of the 
Indian conference in relation to the great treaty made with William Penn, 
at the Big Tree, Shackamaxon, on the fourteenth of the tenth month, 1682." 
Unfortunately, the valuable papers which the envelope contained are no 
longer to be found. The language which the tradition among the whites 
ascribes to William Penn at this conference, is also that which tradition has 
preserved among the Indians. The promises made by him of protection, 
and common enjoyment of the soil, were repeated by the Conestoga Indians 
at the treaty with sir William Keith, in 1722; and Tawenna, a chief of the 
same tribe, at a treaty held with governor Gordon, at Philadelphia, May 
26th, 1729, recapitulated a speech which he said William Penn had made 
them, very similar to that delivered under the Elm. 

The treaty contained in the roll of parchment delivered by Penn 
to the Indians under the Elm, was probably made by his commission- 
ers, William Crispin, John Bezar, and Nathaniel Allen, pursuant to the 
proprietary's ninth instruction, which was in the following terms: "Be 
tender of offending the Indians, and hearken, by honest spies, if you can 
hear that any body inveigles the Indians, not to sell or to stand off, and 
raise the value upon you. You cannot want those that will inform you, 
but to soften them to me and the people, let them know that you are come 
to sit down lovingly among them. Let my letter and conditions, witli my 
purchasers about just dealing with them, be I'ead in their tongue, that they 
may see we liave tlieir good in our eye equal with our own interest; and 
after reading my letter, and the said conditions, then present their kings, 
with what I send them, and make a friendship and league with them, ac- 
cording to tliose conditions, wiiich carefully observe, and get them to com- 
ply with you; be grave, they love not to be smiled on." Fortlie ratification 



604 APPENDIX. 

of this fricndsliip and league, and the further ijr(jp)tiation of the Indians, 
the conference was liolden. The treaty then executed, containing cove- 
nants of protection and kindness, was delivered to the Indians, and was by 
them carefully preserved at least forty years before its exhibition to gover- 
nor Keith, and may possibly now be in the possession of their descendants. 
The treaties which were held about this time, for the sale of lands, very 
properly concluded in written deeds, which are duly preserved in the 
public offices. Several of these deeds, and it is believed all of them, have 
been given to us by Mr. Smith, in his valuable treatise on the land laws. 
He does not mention the treaty under the elm, and the reason is, obviously, 
because it was unattended and unconnected with any deed, and no written 
memorial, other than the minutes of the conference had been taken. 

P.— 77. 

In performance of the stipulation made by William Penn, in his condi- 
tions with the first adventurers and purchasers, (see page 59,) he instruct- 
ed his commissioners, Crispin, Bezar, and Allen, "that the creeks should 
be sounded on my side of Delaware river, especially Upland, in order to 
settle a great towne, and be sure to make your choice where it is most navi- 
gable, high, dry, and healthy. That is, where most ships may best ride, 
of deepest draught of water, if possible, to load or unload, at ye Bank or 
key side, without boating and litering it. It would do well if the river 
coming into yt creek be navigable, at least for boats up into the country, 
and yt the scituation be high, at least dry and sound, and not swampy, 
wch is best knowne by digging up two or three earths, and seeing the * 
bottom." 

How extensive were the views of William Penn in relation to his city, 
will appear from the following extract, also from his instruction to his com- 
missioners. 

" Such a place being found out for navigation, healthy scituation and 
good soyle for provision, lay out ten thousand acres contiguous to it in the 
best manner you can, as the bounds and extent of the libertyes of the" said 
towne. 

" The proportion in the said towne is to be thus, every share or five 
thousand acres shall have an hundred acres of land, out of ye ten thou- 
sand acres. If more than one be concerned in the share, as it may easily 
fall out, then they to agree of ye dividing ye same as they shall think fit, 
still keeping to proportion, as if one hundred pounds will have an hundred 
acres, five pounds will have five acres. 

"That no more Land be surveyed or se4t out, till this be first fixt, and ye 
people upon it, wch is best, both for Comfort, Safety, and Traffique. In 
the next season the Lord willing I shall be with you, and then I shall pro- 
eeede to larger Lotte: This was ye Resolution of a great part of the Pur- 
chassers at London the fifteenth day of Septemb 1681 and I find it generally 
approved. ^ 

" If it should happen yt the most Convenient place for this great Towne 
should be already taken up in greater quantity of Land then is Consistent 
wth the Town Plott, and yt Land not already improved, you must use yor 
utmost skill to perswade them to part wth so much as will be necessary, 
that so necessary and good a designe be not spoiled, that is, where they 
have Ten Acres by ye Water side, to abate five, and to take five more 
backward, and so proportionably, because yt by the Settlement of this 
Towne, the remaining five in two or three years time will be worth twice 
as much as those Ten before, yea wt they take backward for their vvater- 
side Land will in a little more time, be really more vallueable then all their 
Ten forward was before; urging my regard to them if they will not break 
this great, and good Contrivance; and in my Name promise them wt gra- 



AVl'ENDIX. 605 

tuity or prlviledge you think fiU, as having a new graunt at their old rent; 
nay, halte their quit-rent abated, yea, make them as free Purcliasers, 
rather then disappoint my mind in this Township: though herein, be as 
sparing as ever you can, and urge the weak bottome of their Graunte, the 
D. of Yorke having never had a graunt from the King &c Be impartially 
just and Courteous to all, That is both pleasing to ye Lord, and wise in 
itselfe. 

"If you gain yor point in this respect, (of wch be very carefull) fall to 
dividing as before according to shares; then subdivide in wch observe yt 
you must narrower spread by the Water side, and run Backwarde more or 
lesse, according to the Compasse you have by the Waterside, to bring in 
the hundred Shares for their Proportion in the said Ten Thousand Acres. 
"But if you cannot find land enough by ye Water side to allow an Hun- 
dred Acres to five Thousand Acres. Get wt you can, and proportionably 
divide it, though it were but fifty acres for a Share. 

" Be sure to Settle the figure of the Towne so as yt the streets hereafter 
may be uniforme downe to the Water from the Country bounds, lett ye 
place for the Store house be on the middle of the Key, wch will yet 
serve for Market and State houses too. This may be ordered when 1 come, 
only let the Houses built be in a line, or upon a Line as much as may be. 

"Pitch upon the very middle of the Piatt where the Towne or line of 
Houses is to be laid or run facing the Harbour and great Klver for the 
scituation of my house, and let it be not the tenth part of the Towne, as 
the Conditions say (viz) yt out of every hundred Thousand Acres shall be 
reserved to mee Ten, But I shall be contented wth less than a thirtyeth 
part, to witt Three Hundred acres, whereas severall will have Two by pur- 
chaseing Two Shares, yt is Ten Thousand Acres, and it may be fitting for 
mee to exceede a little. 

" The Distance of each House from the Creek or Harbor should be in 
my Judgt a measured quarter of a Mile, at least two hundred paces, be- 
cause of building hereafter, streets downewardb to ye^Harbor. 

*' Let every House be placed, if the Person pleases in ye middle of its 
platt as to the breadth way of it, that so there may be ground on each side, 
for Gardens or Orchards or fields, yt it may be a greene Country Towne, 
wch will never be burnt, and allwayes be wholsome. 

" I Judge yt you must be guided in yor breadth of Land by wt you can 
get, yt is unplanted, and will not be parted wth, but so far as I can guesse 
at this Distance methinksin a Citty, each share to have fifty Poles upon ye 
Front to ye River, and ye rest Backward will be sufficient. But perhaps 
you may have more, and perhaps you will not have so much space to allow. 
Herein follow your Land and Scituation, being always just to proportion." 
It is not probable that Chester detained the attention of tlie commission- 
ers, since it was wanting in almost all the requisites for a large city. At 
one time it was proposed to locate the city on Pennsbury manor, a situation 
still more unfit than Chester; and at another, tradition assures us, it was 
proposed to build it near the lower side of the Poquessing Creek, on the 
Delaware, on an elevated piece of ground. — »S'ee 2 Smith's Laws. 

The location of tlie city was not fixed by the commissioners. It is pro- 
bable that no place could be found that would bear a town of ten tliousand 
acres, even if such a thing were practicable. But the commissioners, in 
their exploration of the country, designated to Penn the spot which he so 
happily selected for Piiiladelphia. 

Before Pcnn's purchase ofthe province (10th Dec. 1678) the advantageous 
position ofthe present site of Philadelphia, was noted by the passengers on 
board the Sliield, from Hull, Daniel Towcs, commander, bound for Bur- 
lington. " Thia was the first ship that came so far up tlie river Delaware. 
Opposite to Coacjuanock, the Indian name ofthe place where I'liihulelphiu 
now stands, whicli was a bold and high shore, she went so near to it in 



606 APPENDIX. 

turning, that part of the tackhng struck the trees; some of the passengers 
expressing, "It was a fine situation for a to v/n." (1 Proud, 149.) Mr. 
Proud adds, " the people next morning went on shore upon the ice, so 
hard and so suddenly had it frozen in the space of one night. 

The first house in the city of Philadelphia was built by George Guest, at 
or near Powell's dock; Guest, for many years, kept a tavern there, called 
the Blue Anchor. John Key was the first born child, of English parents, 
in Philadelphia; in compliment, William Penn gave him a lot of ground. 
He was born in a cave, long afterwards known by the name of the penny- 
pot, near Sassafras street. He died at his residence at Rennet's Square, on 
the fifth of July, 1767, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. — Proud, Wat- 
son's MSS. Pennsylvania Register, 1828. 

By the original plan of the city, neither street nor dwelling were design- 
ed east of Front street; and Penn long resisted the applications of the inha- 
bitants for permission to build against and upon the bank of the I'iver. But, 
betrayed by his poverty, he unhappily yielded his assent, to the sale of lots 
on the bank, and thus deprived his favourite city of a healthful and beautiful 
promenade, fixing upon it a filthy, dark, and damp margin, which shocks 
every stranger upon entering it. 

In 1690, Wilham Penn published in London, proposals for laying out 
another city on the Susquehannah, and invited purchasers; but this project 
never took effect. He stated, as an inducement, the practicability of 
imiting that river with the Delaware by means of the Schuylkill. — Hazard's 
Reg. 1 vol. 400. 

li.— 79. 

Names of the Council — William Markham, Christopher Taylor, Thomas 
Holme, Lacy Cock, William Haige, John Moll, Ralf Withers, John Sim- 
cock, Edward Cantwell, William Clayton, William Biles, James Harrison, 
William Clark, Francis Whitewell, John Richardson, John Hillyard. 

The members of assembly for each county were — 

For Bucks — William Yardly, Samuel Darke, Robert Lucas, Nicholas 
Walne, John Wood, John Clowes, Thomas Fitzwater, Robert Hall, James 
Boyden. 

For Philadelphia — John Songhurst, John Hart, Walter King, Andros 
Binkson, John Moon, Thomas Wynne, speaker, Griffith Jones, William 
Warner, Swan Swanson. 

For Chester — John Hoskins, Robert Wade, George Wood, John Blun- 
ston, Dennis Rochford, Thomas Bracy, John Bezer, John Harding, Joseph 
Phipps. 

For Newcastle — John Cann, John Darby, Valentine Hollingsworth, Gas- 
parus Herman, John Dehoaef, James Williams, William Guest, Peter 
Alrick, Henrick Williams. 

Far Kent — John Biggs, Simon Irons, Thomas Haffbld, John Curtis, 
Robert Bedwell, William Windsmore, John Brinkloe, Daniel Brown, 
Benony Bishop. 

For Sussex — Luke Watson, Alexander Draper, William Futcher, Henry 
Bowman, Alexander Moleston, John Hill, Robert Bracy, John Kipshaveii, 
Cornelius Yerhoof. 

Captain William Markham, from London, was a relation of the proprie- 
tor. He was afterwards sometimes his secretary, and sometimes his depu- 
ty-governor. He appears to have been a useful person, of good education, 
character, and ability. He had the proprietor's confidence and esteem 
till his death. 

Christopher Taylor is said to have been a person of excellent character 
and ability; he was born in Yorkshire, had a good education, wrote well in 
the Latin language. He was an eminent preacher among the Quakers, 
and writ several pieces in defence of their religious principles, in England, 



APPENDIX. 607 

as well as his brother, Thomas Taylor, &c. He was one of the first and 
principal settlers in the province, under William Penn; and is said to have 
been of great service in it, in different respects. He died in 1696. 

Captain Thomas Holmes came from Waterford, in Ireland. He was one 
of the people called Quakers, and surveyor-general of the province, ap- 
pointed by commission, from the proprietor, bearmg date the 18th of the 
second month, 1682. 

Lacy Cock appears to have been one of the Swede settlers, prior to 
William Penn's arrival. 

John Simcock came from Ridley, in Cheshire, in England, where he had 
suffered much for his religion, being a Quaker, and a preacher in that so- 
ciety. He had a good education, was one of the proprietor's first commis- 
sioners of property, and one of his most trusty friends in the government. 
Sometimes he was speaker of the assembly; and is said to have been a very 
worthy and serviceable person in the province, till his death, both in a re- 
ligious and civil capacity. He lived in Chester county, and died on the 
27th of January, 1702. 

William Biles was a preacher among the Quakers, among the first set- 
tlers there; where he appears to have taken up land under governor An- 
dres, of New York, prior to William Penn's grant of the province. He is 
said to have been a very useful person both in the civil and religious line; 
being often in the council and assembly, &c. 

James Harrison came from Boulton, in Lancashire, one of the proprie- 
tor's first commissioners of property; was divers years in great esteem with 
him and his agent, at Pennsbury, &c. being a man of good education, and 
a preacher among the Quakers, &c. 

William Haige, had been a merchant in London. 

Ralph Withers, from Bishop's Canning in Wiltshire. 

Griffith Jones, from Surry. 

Francis Whitewell was counsellor for Kent county. He is said to have 
been a very serviceable person in the government, among the first and 
early settlers; a preacher among the Quakers; and every way a very useful 
and worthy member of society. He died in the year 1684; and William 
Darval was chosen counsellor in his stead. 

Thomas Wynne wjis speaker of the assembly during tlie two first years, 
and was, at other times, a member of it. He was one of the people called 
Quakers, a preacher among them, and came from North Wales; a person 
of note and good character. He died in the latter part of the year 1692. 
He was author of some pieces written in defence of the Quakers, in his 
native country, &,c. 

John Moon was originally of Lancashire, in England; afterwards of 
Bristol. He writ some pieces in defence of the Quakers, in his native 
country, &c. 

John Songhurst came from Sussex, in England, was a writer and preacher 
among the Quakers. He died in West Jersey, and was buried in Philadel- 
phia, in 1688.— 1 Proud, 235-6. 

S.— 82. 

The curious reader will find a copy of this trial in Hazard's Pennsylvania 
Register, vol. 1. 

T.— 88. 

The expenditure of the proprietary must have been very great, and it is 
difficult to conjecture for what public purpose it was made. The purchase 
money of the lands he had sold, exclusive of city lots, exceeded 20,000/.; 
to which must be added, 6,000/., which he now said lie i>ad laid out, more 
than he ever saw from the province. It is probable that 16,000/. the debt 
of the crown, is included in this calculation, and also the sum of 7,000/., 



608 AVrENDIX. 

spent by him on tlie manor of Pennsliuiy. There is also some discrepancy 
in his statements. In his letters to T. Lloyd, November, 1685, lie gives the 
balance against the province at 4,000/. In another letter to the same, of 
September, 1686, he says 6000/., whilst in his letter of the same month, to 
James Harrison, he states it at 5000/. only. In a letter to J. Logan, 8th 
mo. 6, 1704, he exclaims, " O Pennsylvania, what hast thou cost me! Above 
30,000/. more than I ever got by it. Two hazardous and most fatiguing 
voyages, my straights and slavery here, and my child's soul almost!" The 
following is an extract from another letter, 14th 7 mo. 1705. 

" I have not yet surrendered, and unless I can do it on very valuable 
terms, I will not, and therefore expect three things, 1st, The condemna- 
tion of David Lloyd's proceedings, which thou speakest of, and that, whe- 
ther I surrender or not, since one or t'other shall make no difference as to 
my coming to inhabit there, and placing some of my children among them. 
2ndly, That no law may be passed, or privilege granted by my lieutenant- 
governor, till they have settled a revenue of at least 1000/. per annum upon 
the government. I too mournfully remember how noble a law I had of 
exports and imports when I was first in America, that had been worth by 
this time many thousands a year, which I suspended receiving for a year or 
two, and that not without a consideration engaged by several merchants. 
But Thomas Lloyd, very unhappily for me, my family, and himself, com- 
plimented some few selfish spirits, with the ^repeal tliereof, without my 
final consent, which his commission required, and that has been the source 
of all my loads and inabilities to support myself under the troubles that 
have occurred to me, on the account of setthng and maintainingthe colony; 
for I spent 10,000/. the first two years, as appears by accounts here in 
England, which, with 3,000/. I overspent myself in king James' time, and 
the war in Ireland that followed, has been the true cause of all my straights 
I have since laboured under; and no supply coming from Pennsylvania, 
between my first and second voyage, being fifteen years, to alleviate my 
burdens, and answer my necessities. To say nothing what my deputy- 
governors have cost me from the beginning, even in Fletcher's time, and 
the vast sum of money I have melted away here in London, to hinder much 
mischief against us, if not to do us much good, which I can solemnly say, 
has not been less communihus annis than 400/. per annum, which comes 
near to 10,000/. Lord Baltimore's 2s. 8f/. per hhd. with anchorage, ton- 
nage, and other immunities, is a supply far transcending what I can hope for, 
though he never took the hundredth part of the concern upon him that 1 
have done; and when they gave it to him they were in poorer circumstances 
than Pennsylvania is now by many degrees, and I am ashamed to tell thee 
how opprobriously our people's treatment of me has been styled by people 
of almost all qualities and stations." 

U.— 89. 

The collection of the quit-rents, and the balance of the tax, was resisted 
by many. Among others, Joshua Carpenter, who was among the rich of 
the province, suffered distress to be made, and stood suit by advice of his 
counsel, D. Lloyd. — Logan JllSS. 

X.— 101. 

The facts stated in the text certainly warrant the conviction of Keith. 
But it is difiicult not to believe that religious enmity was blended with 
public justice in promoting it. Some of the offences charged against him 
in a proclamulion of the magistrates were committed in religious debates at 
church meetings; and, at his ti'ial, Jenning-s, against whom he had railed, 
presided, and (hrected the prosecution witli a bitterness and indecorum 
which would not be tolerated in a judge of the present day. (See. a pam- 
phlet, entitled " New England -spirit of persecution trnnsmittcd to Pennsyl- 
vania." 



APPENDIX. 609 

Some of the persons who adhered to Keith were of rank and character. 
Among them were Thomas Budd, George Hutchinson, Robert Turner, 
Francis Rawle, John Hart, Charles Read, &c. &c. 

¥.—112. 

On the fifth of March, 1C96, William Pcnn married his second wife, »t 
Bristol. She was the daughter of Thomas Callowhill, and grand-daughter 
of Dennis Hollister, an eminent merchant of that city. His first wife, to 
whom he was married in 1672, was Gulielma Maria Springett, daughter of 
sir WiUiam Springett, of Darling, in Sussex. She died in December, 1693, 

Z— 132. 

The following extract from the memorial will give some idea of the 
feeling of the assembly, and their sense of the services of the proprietary. 
*' When thou entered upon legislation, thou wast pleased to repeal all the 
Jaws that were made in colonel Fletcher's time, which were approved by 
the king or queen, as we were informed, and as some of us gathered by the 
account thou gave of them, viz. that chancellor Somers had sent for thee 
to know what thou had to object to any of those laws; and if it had not 
been for thee, none of them had passed, or words to that effect; and not 
only so, the people being minded to surrender thy second charier, upon 
thy promise to give them a better in lieu of it; and under the pretence of 
passing an act for confirming and securing tlieir lands, thou obtained 
liberty to re-survey all the lands in the province, and to bring the people 
to terms for the overplus: so that by this stratagem the warrants, surveys, 
and new patents, cost the people as much, and to some more, than the first 
purchase of their lands, besides their long attendance on thy secretary and 
surveyors to have their business done. But before thou wouldst pass that 
act, it must be accompanied with an Impost or excise, and a two thousand 
pound bill besides; and all this thou esteemed but inconsiderable, when 
compared with the vast charge thou hadst been at in the administration and 
defence of this government since the year 1682: Though we know thy 
stay here at first coming was not above two years, but went home about 
the differences between thee and Baltimore, concerning the bounds of the 
lower counties, and did not return until the year 1699: excusing thy stay 
by thy service to the nation of England, in general, and thy friends there 
in particular, (as appears by thy letters from time to time,) whilst the in- 
terest of this province was sinking, which might have been upheld by the 
many wealthy persons that were inclined to transport themselves hither 
after the route of Monmouth, if thou had then come over, according to thy 
repeated promises. And how far thy stay has either afiected what thou 
went about, or contributed to the establishment of the inhabitants here, 
in their just rights, and liberties and properties, we leave thee to demon- 
strate and the world to judge. In the mean time we desire thee to con- 
sider better what to place to account of this province; and do not forget 
that no part of thy pretended charges was expended in paying some of 
those who acted under thee in the administration here, one of whom, viz. 
Thomas Lloyd, served thee in that station about nine years of thy absence, 
which thou leaves, it seems, for the country to discharge. 

"After thou had.st managed these points, and was sent for to England, 
thou granted the third charter of privileges, by which we are now con- 
vened, as also a charter to incorporate the city of Philadelphia, and signed 
a charter of property, but refused to order thy seal to be affixed thereunto, 
till thou had advised upon it in England; nevertheless, thou promised, 
under thy hand, that thou would confirm the first part of it, relating to 
titles of land, but thou sent thy order under hand and seal, dated within six 
months after, to countermand the sealing thereof 
77 



610 APPENDIX. 

"After all the laws were completed for raising' all the said taxes and 
imposts, thou proposed, if thy friends would give thee a sum of money, 
thou promised to negotiate their affairs at home to the best advantage, and 
endeavour to procure the approbation of our laws, and a general exemp- 
tion from oaths. We find that considerable sums have been raised by way 
of subscription and benevolence for that service: part thou received be- 
fore thou went, and more have been received by thy secretary since; but 
we had no account that our laws are approved, nor had we as much as a 
letter from thee, nor any other intimation, but by tlie secretaiy's letters, 
which he thought fit to communicate by piecemeals; whereby we under- 
stand thou hast been making terms for thyself and family, and by what we 
gather, thou hast been upon surrendering the government; nor are thy 
friends here eased of oaths, but on the contrary, an order from the queen 
requiring oaths to be administered to all persons who are willing to take 
them in all judicatures, whereby the people called Quakers are disabled 
to sit in courts." — Hist. Rev. 

A 2.— 140. 

Proud states that Isaac Norris was one of the companions of Hill on this 
occasion. But the letters in the Logan MSS. give tlie place to Fish- 
bourne. Norris, it is believed, was in England at this time. 

Richard Hill was born in Maryland, brought up to the sea, and after- 
wards settled in Philadelphia, having there married the widow of John 
Delaval, Hannah, the eldest daughter of the late Governor Lloyd, a woman 
of an excellent character, and very much esteemed and beloved. He was 
twenty-five years a member of the governor's council, divers times speaker 
of the assembly, held several offices of trust; was, for several years, first 
commissioner of property, and, during the last ten years of his life, he was 
one of the provincial judges. 

His services, in the religions society of his friends, the Quakers, of which 
he was, for many years, an active member, are said^lkewise to have been 
very considerable. He had by nature and acquisition such a constant firm- 
ness, as furnished him with undaunted resolution to execute whatever he 
undertook. His sound judgment, his great esteem for the English consti- 
tution and laws, his tenderness for the liberty of the subject, and his zeal 
for preserving the reputable order established in his own i-eligious commu- 
nity, with his great generosity to proper objects, qualified him for the 
greatest services, in every station in which he was engaged, and rendered 
him of very great and uncommon value, in the place where he lived. He 
died in Philadelphia, on the 9th of September, 1729. 

Samuel Preston, of Philadelphia, was, for a long time, one of the 
governor's council, and treasurer of the province of Pennsylvania; which 
offices he discharged with much honour and fidelity. He was a man 
of great integrity to what he believed was his duty; his conduct in life 
very instructive, and his practice a continual series of good oftices. He 
was a person of such remarkable benevolence, and open disposition of 
mind, as rendered advice and reproof, from him, the more acceptable and 
serviceable; and being of a fair and clean character, good judgment, and 
suitable presence of mind, his usefulness, in that capacity, was the more 
extensive and successful. He was a very v.-.luable member, of society, 
among his friends, the Quakers, undertaking and performing many diffi- 
cult offices, and social duties therein, with great cheerfulness, alacrity, and 
utility; and was highly esteemed by them as an elder, who ruled well in 
his social capacity, and was worthy of double honour. He died in Sep- 
tember, 1743, aged about eighty years. — Proud. 

B 2.— 150. 

William Penn, jr. was one of the parties at this night brawl, and was 



APPENDIX. 611 

indicted for his conduct there in the city court. He professed the faith of 
the church of England, but had worn, it would seen), hitherto in the pro- 
vince, a Quaker garb. Upon the institution of this prosecution, he threw 
off all disguise, abandoned his Quaker connexions, and openly proclaimed 
his principles. l;uring the riot at the tavern the lights were put out, and 
one of the peace officers severely caned the governor, renewing his strokes 
at every declaration he made of his name and rank, as a punishment for 
uttering scandal against the first officer of the government. — Logan MSS. 

C 2.--154. 

Colonial officers during the government of Evans. 

Counsellors. — Edward Shippen, Samuel Carpenter, William Trent, Tho- 
mas Storj', Richard Hill, William Rodney, Caleb Pusey, James Logan. 

Joseph Growden, speaker of the assembly ;jThomas Story, master of the 
rolls; William Clark, Edward Shippen, Joseph Growden, and William 
Guest, judges; colonel Robert Quarry, judge of tlie admiralty; Samuel 
Carpenter, treasurer; R. Lowther, attorney-general; Peter Evans, register; 
Edward Pennington, surveyor-general; Robert Ashton, clerk of the peace 
for the town and county of Philadelphia. 

D 2.— 157. 

The debt from the proprietary to Ford was large, and from the manner 
in which it was secured, proved very troublesome to himself, and his 
tenants in the province. Ford was steward of Penn's Irish estates, and 
made considerable advances of money; to secure the payment of which, 
he took an absolute conveyance of tiie province, and gave Penn an in- 
formal defeasance. During the life of the steward this transaction appears 
to have been kept secret; but, after his death, his representatives openly 
claimed the province and government; the latter was soon abandoned, as 
not contained in the conveyance. Penn insisted that -the transaction was 
amortgage only, and suit was instituted in chancery for opening and liquidate 
ing Ford's accounts, amounting to 12,000/. sterling. Of this great sum, Penn 
insisted that one-third only was, in justice, due; but that the account had 
been increased to this amount, by illegal and compound interest, and extor- 
tionate commissions. The chancellor appears to have been satisfied that 
the account was unfairly stated, but it had been so often confirmed at va- 
rious settlements by tlie proprietor, that he would not venture to open it. 
Pending the suit in chancery, the Fords brought suit in the king's bench 
for arrears of rent, due on a lease of the province, made by Philip Ford to 
the proprietary; a verdict was obtained for 3000/., and execution issued, on 
which the proprietary was arrested, whilst attending public meeting, and 
in the gallery; but he was liberated by the bailiff, on the .issurance of H. 
Gouldcny, and other friends, that he would render himself when meeting 
should be over. This was accordingly done, and soon after he was removed 
to the Fleet prison, where he continued for several months, until a com- 
promise was made with his persecutors, for the sum of about 7000/. This 
sum, or tlie greater part of it, was raised by friends in London, to whom , 
Penn mortgaged the province as security. I'he settlement of Ford's claim 
brought great pecuniary relief to the i^roprictary, and closed a drain, the 
extent of which may be conjectured, when it is stated, tliat Ford had re- 
ceived 17,000/. principal money from his employer, and had expended 
16,000/. only, and yet claimed a balance for interest and services of 12,000/. 
—Logan MSS. 

E 2.— 163. 

As these proceedings arc highly interesting to the Society of Friends, 
and seem, by the connnutation of military service, to sanction piinciples 



612 APPENDIX. 

not now admitted by them; and as Proud has treated the address of the 
assembly with great forbearance, I have given here the names of the mem- 
bers of this house, in order that their religious characters may be scruti- 
nized. 

Philadelphia County — Edward Farmer, William Trent, Edward Jones, 
Thomas Masters, Thomas Jones, Samuel Cart, Jonathan Dickenson, David 
Giffing. 

Chester County — Nicholas Pile, Joseph Baker, William Lewis, John 
Wood, Nathaniel Newlin, Ephraim Jackson, Caleb Pusey, Isaac Taylor. 

Bucks County — Abel Janny, John Clark, Hoffeld Vanzant, John Heugh, 
Thomas Stevenson, Samuel Baker, Jeremiah Langhorne. 

City of Philadelphia — Richard Hill, (speaker,) Isaac Norris. 

F 2.-185. 

The council resolved, •* that as often as the governor shall hold a court, 
all the members of council, in or near Philadelphia, shall attend him as his 
assistants on the bench; and no decree shall be pronounced or made in 
chancery by the governor as chancellor, without the assent or concurrence 
of two or more of the six eldest of the council for the time being. And 
that the six eldest of the counsellors for the time being may be employed 
by the governor as masters in chancery as often as occasion shall require." 

G 2.— 194. 

Forgeries of the provincial bills afterwards became frequent, and the 
punishment of death was inflicted by law on the offence. The minutes of 
council contain narratives of two or three attempts on a large scale. One of 
them was made by a person from New England, who went to London to 
have the counterfeit better executed. 

H 2.-197. 

Governor Keith attempted to give a very high colouring to this act. He 
charged Mr. Logan with having falsified the minutes of council. But this 
charge was indignantly repelled. The offence of the secretary consisted 
in having framed a minute of the transactions of the board, with the re- 
marks of the members, in which Keith was not very respectfully treated. 
This minute was placed among the others without having been formally 
approved. The members admitted that in substance it was substantially 
correct, and declared that in their opinion Mr. Logan did not design to add 
to, or alter the proceedings of the council. — Min. of council. 

I 2.— 203. 

Among the members of council about this time, appear Richard Hill, 
Samuel Preston, Anthony Palmer, Robert Ashton, Isaac Norris, Tho- 
mas Masters, William Ashton, John French, Andrew Hamilton, also attor- 
ney-general, James Logan, likewise secretary. 

The names of the members of assembly at the end of Gookin's adminis- 
tration were — 

For Philadelphia County — Samuel Carpenter, senr. Francis Rawle, 
Matthias Holston, John Swift, Robert Jones, Anthony Morris, Hugh Evans, 
Benjamin Vining. 

Bucks County — Joseph Growdon, William Paxton, William Biles, John 
Sotcher, Joseph Kirkbride, jr. George CloUgh, Thomas Canby, Thomas 
Yardly. 

Chester County — Samuel Lewis, jr. Joseph Pennock, David Lewis, Wil- 
liam Pile, Daniel Williamson, Israel Taylor, Nathaniel Newhn, Isaac Tay- 
lor. 

City of Philadelphia—John Kearsley, Charles Read. 



APPENDIX. 613 

The names of the members of assembly, elected in October, 1724, were — 

For Philadelphia Count 1/ — Anthony Morris, Job Goodson, Morris Morris, 
Francis Uawle, John Swift, Samuel Hudson, Edward Farmar, Matthias 
Holston. 

Bucks County — W^illiam Biles, speaker, Jeremiah Langhorne, Joseph 
Fell, Christopher Vanhorne, Matthew Hughes, Thomas Watson, Benjamin 
Jones, Abraham Chapman, 

Chester County — Moses Key, Joseph Pennock, William Webb, William 
Pile, Thomas Chandler, Elisha Gatchell, John Parry, John Crosby. 

City of Philadelphia — John Kearsley, Thomas Tress. 

K 2.-225. 

Andrew Hamilton died in the latter end of the summer of 1741. He was 
originally from Scotland, and his first residence in America was in Virginia, 
whence he removed to Pennsylvania. He was distinguished for knowledge 
and ability as a lawyer, his general good character, and acquaintance with 
men and business. He acquired great reputation by his defence of Zen- 
gar at New York, indicted for a libel on the governor. The city of Phi- 
ladelphia is indebted to his exertions for the purchase of the state house 
square, and the erection of the state house, which was founded under his 
superintendence as a committee of assembly. He laid the foundation of a 
large fortune, consisting in part of lands in and near the city, which, in the 
hands of his heirs, have, by the lapse of time, and the improvement of the 
city, become immensely valuable. 

L 2.-254. 

The speech of Canassatago may be seen at length in note H. 

M 2.-278. 

On the seventeenth of Januaiy, 1750, governor Hamilton laid before his 
council, a letter from captain Celeron, dated " Camp sur le belle riviere, d 
une ancienne village des Chouans," stating, that, being sent to reconcile 
some Indians who had gone to war, in consequence of the late quarrel be- 
tween the French and English, he was surprised to find English traders 
from Pennsylvania in a country to which England never had any claim; re- 
questing the governor to forbid their future intrusion, and to advertise tliem 
of their danger in trespassing on the territories of France. At this time, 
Celeron buried the leaden plates mentioned in the text. — Minnies of coun- 
cil. 

N2.— 305. 

It is said that Braddock fell by the arm of a provincial soldier, and not 
by the fire of the enemy. That, in the course of the battle, the general 
ordered the provincial troops toform in column; but that they disobeyed, and 
adhered to the Indian mode of firing severally from the shelter of a tree. Tiiat 
Braddock rode up to a young man, named Fawcett, or Prichett, and either 
shot him, or cut him down with his sword. Tlial Tliomas Fawcett, a bro- 
ther of the killed, having learned his fate, watched his opportunity, and 
revenged his death, by shooting liraddock through the body, of which 
wound he died. Thomas Fawcett was said to have been living a short time 
since on the Laurel hill, at the advanced age of ninety-seven years. 

Braddock was !)uried, about forty miles from the field of battle, in the 
centre of the road which he had cut. To prevent the discovery of his 
grave, and to preserve his remains from savage outrage, the troops, horses, 
and wagons, were passed over it. The spot was marked by the soldiers, 
and the exact place of his interment is still pointed out. It is close to the 



614 APPENDIX. 

northern side of the national road, seven miles east of Union town. — Pitts- 
burg Mercury. Watson's MSS, in the collection of the Pennsylvarua His- 
ierical Sociely. 

O 2.— 313. 

INDIAN OUTRAGES. 

It is an ungrateful task to detail the Indian barbarities. Their outrages, 
however numerous upon humanity, have such similarity in character, that 
their repetition in our naiTative can serve only to create sentiments of hor- 
ror and disgust. But the sufferings and exertions of our progenitors should 
not pass unnoticed; and we may, without offence to the most fastidious, 
give them more particular attention in a note, than would be proper in the 
text. 

About the twentieth of October, news was received in the vicinity of 
Lancaster, that the French and Indians had massacred and scalped many 
of the inhabitants, not more than forty miles from Harris' ferry, (now Har- 
risburg.) About forty -five persons immediately proceeded to the indicated 
spot, where they found fourteen bodies shockingly mangled, which they 
interred. Upon receiving information from some friendly Indians, that a 
force of French and Indians had passed the Allegheny mountains, this party re- 
solved to proceed to Shamokin, to ascertain the disposition of the Delawares 
settled there, of whose fidelity they had become suspicious. They were 
received coldly, but civilly, and it was apparent that their visit had, in some 
degree, disconcerted the Indians. Fearful of remaining in the woods, the 
provincialists spent the night In the village, and were advised by Andrew 
Monteur, who had frequently acted as provincial interpreter, to avoid a 
particular road, which he told them would prove dangerous. But, doubt- 
ing his sincerity, they unfortunately pursued the forbidden route, and were 
assailed by about forty Indians, some of whom they recognised as their 
hosts of the preceding night. The provincialists were put to flight and 
dispersed; four of their number were killed by the Indian fire, and four 
more were drowned in crossing the Susquehaiinah in their retreat. Mr. 
John Harris, who led the party, with many others, were several days in 
reaching their home, and their protracted absence caused great apprehen- 
sion in their neighbourhood. 

On the first of November, Monteur and Scarroyaday came to Harris' 
ferry, and gave information that a party of Delawares and Shawanese had 
visited Great island, who declared that they had accepted the hatchet from 
the French, and were resolved to use it against the English while any of 
them were alive; and that a large body of French and Indians had left fort Du 
Quesne, and would divide themselves in small parties as they approached the 
frontiers, designing to attack the settlements at Shamokin, on the Juniata, 
and at Harris' ferry. They ascribed the attack on Mr. Harris and his people 
to a party which had left the fort about eight days before. 

On the second of November, the enemy commenced their devastations 
at the Great Cove, Canollaways, and Tulpehocken. A letter of the third 
of November describes the people In the Great Cove in the greatest dis- 
tress — their houses burning, their cattle shot down, the roads filled with the 
unhappy sufferers flying with their children to save their lives, without 
subsistence, beds, or clothing to defend them from the cold. 

On the eighteenth, the savages extended their horrors to Berks county, 
murdering many of the inhabitants, and destroying their houses. 

The Moravian settlement at Gnadenhutten was attacked soon after, by a 
party of twelve Delawares; five persons were slain in a house, vvhic)i was 
set on fire, and, with the dead bodies, was consumed. One lad, having 



APPENDIX. 615 

been twice slightly wounded, made his escape. Notice was about the same 
time given to the Indians under the care of the Moravian society, that an 
opportunity would be given them to return to their friends, which if they 
neglected, they would afterwards be treated as the whites. Captain An- 
derson, of New Jersey, on receiving information of this attack, came over 
with a company, with whom he pursued the Indians in vain. 

A letter from Bethlehem, dated December the eighteenth, states, "that 
a party of Indians had gathered behind the Blue mountains, to the number 
of two hundred., and had burned the greatest part of the buildings, and 
killed upwards of a hundred of the inhabitants; and that they threatened 
the upper Moravian places, as-€hristiansbrun, Gnadenthal, Nazareth, and 
Friedcnsthal." 

Another letter, from Union works, Jersey, of the 20th, says," the barbarous 
and bloody scene which is now open in the upper parts of Northampton coun- 
ty, is the most lamentable that perhaps ever appeared. There may be seen 
horror and desolation; populous settlements deserted; villages laid in ashes; 
men, women, and children, cruelly mangled and massacred; some found in 
the woods very nauseous for want of interment, some just reeking from 
tlie hands of their savage slaughterers, and some hacked and covered all 
over with wounds." To this letter was annexed a list of seventy-eight 
persons killed, and more than forty settlements burned. 

A letter from Easton, dated twenty-fifth of December, states " the coun- 
try all above this town, for fifty miles, is mostly evacuated and ruined, ex- 
cepting only the neighbourhood of Dupuy's five families, which stand their 
ground. The people have chiefly fled into the Jerseys. Many of them 
have thrashed out their corn, and carried it off with their cattle and best 
household goods, but a vast deal is left to the enemy: many ofl^crcd half 
their corn, horses, cows, goods, he. to save the rest, but could not obtain 
assistance enough to rtmove them in time. The enemy made but few 
prisoners, murdering almost all that fell into their hands, of all ages, and 
both sexes. All business is at an end; and the few remaining starving- in- 
habitants in this town are quite dejected and dispirited. Captains Ashton 
and Trump march up to Dupuy's this day, and are to build two block- 
houses for defence of the country between that settlement and Gnaden 
hutten, which when finished, the inhabitants that are fled say they will 
return." 

Upon the thirty-first of December, the village of Gnadenhutten, consist- 
ing of thirty-six houses and a church, was again attacked, and reduced to 
ashes. It was at this time occupied by a part of captain Levan's company 
of rangers, and some labourers without arms, under the command of a 
lieutenant Brown, who, after a sharp conflict, maintained from the cluirch, 
was compelled, upon its taking fire, to retreat with great loss, the enemy, 
amounting to two hundred and fifty persons, far outnumbering his force. 
The lieutenant himself escaped, having concealed himself behind a rock 
in the river for many hours. Captain I,evan arrived in sight of tiie village 
with the rest of his company, during the conflagration; but, seeing the 
church in flames, concluded that the lieutenant had been overpowered, he 
deemed it prudent to withdraw. 

About the twenty-seventh of January, the Indians made their appearance 
upon the Juniata river, and committed many murders within three miles 
of fort Patterson. 

During the month of January, the Indian aggressions were continued, 
but were not so extensive as in the prior and succeeding months. The 
latter part of February, and throughout the month of March, they were 
very active and mischievous along the whole western and northern border. 

On the fourteenth of the former month, the savages attacked the house 
of F. Reichelsderfer, in Albany township, Berks county. The owner was 



C16 APPENDIX. 

in the field, and made his escape on the approach of the barbarians. They 
murdered bis two children, and set his house and stables on fire, destroy- 
ing his grain and his cattle. At the house of a neighbour, (Jacob Ger- 
hart,) they killed one man, two women, and six children. Two children 
slipped under the bed, one of whom was burned, the other escaped. 

About the same time, the house of the widow Coxe, near M'Uowel's mill, 
in Cumberland county, was burned, and her two sons, and another destroyed 
or carried off. 

On the twentieth of February, captain Patterson, with a scouting party, 
fell in with some Indians at Middle creek, in Cumberland county, one of 
whom they scalped, and put the others to flight, having one of his own men 
wounded. He reported the woods, from the Juniata to Shamokin, to be 
filled with Indians, seeking plunder and scalps, and burning all the houses, 
and destroying the grain, in that vicinity. 

Early in March, they burned the house and barn of Barnabas Sietle, and 
the mill of Peter Conrad, in Berks county, and killed the wife of Balsar 
Neytong, and made captive his son, a lad of eight years of age. They 
fired upon one David Howell five times, and the last time shot him through 
the arm. 

On the first of March, in Northampton county, on the other side of the 
Blue mountain, between fort Norris and fort Hamilton, at the plantation of 
Philip Bussart, one Muhlhaurs, whilst breaking flax tliere, was mortally 
wounded by a shot through the body. A boy of George Miniers', whilst 
standing at the door, received a shot in his breast, upon which he went 
into the house to get his gun, but, while cocking it, fell dead, Bussart's 
son, attempting to make his escape, was shot dfead, and Bussart himself 
was wounded in the arm by an Indian whom he shot in the back. This 
attack was made by eight Indians, three of whom it was supposed were 
slain in the encounter. 

On Sunday, the twenty-ninth of February, two boys, at a small distance 
from David Davis' fort, in the Little cove, Cumberland county, were fired 
upon by some Indians. One of them escaped and alarmed the fort. The 
Indians, to the number of twent}', immediately came up and took posses- 
sion of a barn, and fired repeatedly on the fort, in which there were eight 
or ten men. The fii-e was briskly and effectively returned. Failing in this 
attempt, the enemy divided their force into two parties, and proceeded to 
the commission of the usual ravages. But the inhabitants of Peters town- 
sliip collected together In small parties between three and four o'clock of 
the afternoon, marched to the fort, and on tlie next morning set out in pur- 
suit of the savages. They came in sight of six on horseback, who, being 
closely pressed, abandoned their horses and fled to the woods, leaving be- 
hind them a woman they had taken the day before, near the Potomac. 
Another i^arty, under Mr. Potter, discovered the trail of two companies of 
the enemy, whom they followed, until baffled in the pursuit by the falling 
snow. These companies belonged to Shlngas and Jacobs; in this foray 
they killed four whites, and made prisoners of a like number. 

In the evening of the same day, a party of Indians were discovered by 
one Alexander, near the house of Thomas Barr, In Peters township. Alex- 
ander was pursued, but escaped, and alarmed the fort at M'Dowel's mill, 
and notice of the presence of the enemy was speedily given to the township. 
Karly on Monday morning, a partj% composed of fourteen men of captain 
Croghan's company, who were at the mill, and about twelve other young 
men, set off to watch the motions of the enemy. Within a quarter of a mile 
of Barr's, they fell In with fifty, and sent back for a reinforcement from the 



APPENDIX. 617 

fort. The young lads proceeded by a circuit to take the enemy in the 
rear, whilst the soldiers should attack them in front. But the impetuosity, 
of the soldiers defeated their plan. For, getting within gun-shot, they 
immediately engaged the Indians, who were standing around the fire^ and 
slew several of them at the first discharge. The Indians briskly returned 
the fire, killing one of the soldiers, and compelled the rest to retreat. The 
party of young men, hearing the report of fire-arms, hastened up, and, 
finding tlie Indians on the ground which the soldiers had occupied, de- 
livered their fire with effect, but, concluding that the soldiers had fled, or 
were slain, they also retreated. One of their number, Barr's son, was 
wounded, and would have fallen by the tomahawk of an Indian, had not 
the savage been killed by a siiot from one Armstrong, wiio saw him run- 
ning upon the lad. Soon after, the soldiers and young men, being joined 
by a reinforcement from the mill, again sougiit tlie enemy, who, eluding 
their pursuit, crossed the creek near William Clark's, and attempted to 
surprise tlie fort; but their design was discovered by two Dutch lads, 
coming from foddering tlieir- master's cattle. One of the lads was slain, 
but the other reached the fort, which was immediately surrounded by the 
Indians, who, from a thicket, fired many shot at the men in garrison, who 
appeared above the wall, and returned the fire as often as they ob- 
tained sight of the enemy. At this time, two men coming- to the mill fell 
into the middle of tlie assailants, but made their escape into the fort, though 
fired at three times. The party at Barr's now came up, and drove tlie In- 
dians through the thicket; in their retreat, they met five men from Mr. 
Hoops', riding to the mill; they killed one of these, and wounded another 
severely. The sergeant at tlie fort, having lost two of his men, declined 
to follow the enemy, until his commander, Mr. Crawford, who was at 
Hoops', should return, and, the snow falling thick, they had time to burn 
Barr's house, and in it they consumed their dead. In the morning of the 
second of March, Mr. Crawford, with fifty men, went in quest of the enemy 
but was unsuccessful in his search. 

On the seventh of March, the house of Andrew Lycan, on the Wike- 
nesko creek, was attacked by the Indians. Lycan had with him his son, 
a negro man, a boy, and John Revalt, and I.udwig Sliut, two of his neigh- 
bours. Lycan and Revalt, whilst engaged early in the morning foddering 
the cattle, had two guns fired at them, but, being unhurt, ran to the house, 
and prepared for an engagement. In order to get a shot at the enemy, 
John Lycan, Revalt, and Shut, crept out of the house, but were instantly 
fired upon by five Indians, and were all wounded. Lycan, the father, per- 
ceiving, over the hog-house, an Indian, named Joshua James, fired upon, 
and killed him: he also saw two white men run from the hoghouse, and 
get at a little distance from it. The peo|)le in the house now endeavoured 
to escape, and were pursued by sixteen Indians. John Lycan and Itevalt, 
unable, from their wounds, to continue tlie fight, fled with the negro, 
whilst Andrew, Shut, and the boy, faced the foe. One of the Indians 
approached the boy, and, wiiilst in the act of striking him with his toma- 
hawk, was shot dead by Shut, and, at the same instant, Lycan killed an- 
other. These two heroic men continued the combat for some time, and 
killed and wounded several of their adversaries. Their bravery daunted 
the enemy, who did not dare to close upon them, even though they were 
compelled, from fatigue and loss of blood, to sit down upon a log to rest 
themselves, and they finally succeeded in making good their retreat to 
Hanover township. Several of the Indians were recognised as Delawares, 
and were well known in the neighbourhood. 

On the twentieth of March, John Baker, a servant of captain Croghan, 
73 



618 APfENDlX, 

Taturned to fort Shirley, brmgiug with him an Indian scalp. Baker, on the 
twenty-8€renth of January preceding, was taken prisoner near the fort by 
two Indians, and carried to Kittanning. He remained there until about the 
tenth of March, when, being ordered out of the town with an Indian on 
some service, he took an opportunity to kill and scalp his companion, and 
make hia escape. The number of warriors at this town did not then exceed 
one hundred. Of these, a party of twenty-six, under Shingas, and another 
party of about the same number, had set out to fall on the Conococheague 
settlement, and on their return home to annoy forts Littleton and Shirley. 

John Craig vPas taken prisoner, by five Delawares, on the eleventh of 
February, whilst in search of two sons of the widow Coxe, of Cumberland 
county, whose house was burned on that day by the Indians. His captors 
immediately stripped him, tied a rope about his neck, and drove him be- 
fore them. Whilst travelling toward the Cove mountains, they gave the 
w^ar halloo, which was answered by two Indians, who had with them the 
two sons of widow Coxe, with ropes about their necks. At night, the 
three prisoners were stripped quite naked, and their hmbs stretched out 
to the utmost extent, and tied to a post and trees; a blanket was then thrown 
over each. In the morning, the Indians loaded the prisoners with their 
luggage. They travelled seven days north-westerly, till they reached the 
Kiskiminetas creek, wliere, on hearing the noise of many guns, they gave 
the war cry, which was answered by a party under Shingas. Being told 
that the king was ready to receive them, they again set up the war shout, 
and provided themselves with hickory withes, with which they lashed the 
ground in a furious manner, and, when they came in sight of the other 
Indians, fell to whipping the prisoners most unmercifully, drawing blood 
at every stroke. When they met, a council was held concerning the pri- 
soners, and Craig was given to Shingas, who adopted him as his son, and 
he and his party separating from the other Indians, took him with them to 
Loyal Hannah. From this place, Shingas, with the greater part of his force, 
went to attack M 'Dowel's fort, and left Craig in the custody of four Indian 
men and two women. Soon after, captain Jacobs, with sixteen Indians, 
came to them, staid with them two nights, and then set out for cape Capon, 
in Virginia. The four Indians then made Craig assist them to construct a 
raft, upon which they crossed the river, and commenced hunting. The 
women also left the cabin to search for haws, when Craig made his escape. 

On the twenty-fourth of March, the house of Peter Klucks, in Berks 
county, about fourteen miles from Reading, was set on fire by the enemy, 
and the family, five in number, consumed. After which, the Indians at- 
tacked the house of one Linderman, in which were two men and a woman, 
all of whom ran up stairs, where the woman was shot dead through the 
roof. The men then ran out of the house to engage the Indians, when 
Linderman was shot in the neck, and the other through the jacket. Upon 
this, Linderman ran towards the Indians, two of whom only were seen, 
and shot one of them in the back, wiien he fell, and he and his companion 
scalped him, and brought away his gun and knife. 

About the fourth of April, M'Cord's fort, in Conocoche.ague, was burned 
by the Indians, and twenty-seven persons were killed or captured: the In- 
dians escaped the pursuit of two parties of the inhabitants of the vicinity, 
who had divided themselves into tiiree parties to seek them. Several 
other forts along the frontier line were watched by outlying parties of sa- 
vages, and everj' straggler was made prisoner, or shot down. The third 
pai*y came up with the enemy at Sideling hill, with whom they had a smart 
engagement for two hours, djuring wiiich liiey fired tweaty-four rounds, but 



APPWNDIX. 619 

were overpowered by numbers, the Indians liaving- been succoured by a 
force under Shingas. F.acb. side sustained a loes of above twenty-five killed, 
m\d many wounded. 

During the months of May, June, and July, the Indians continued their 
barbarities, but not so extensively as in the two precedinjj months. 

On the twenty-second of July, a party of sixty Indians appeared before 
fort Granville, and challenged the garrison to combat: but this was declined 
by the commander, in consequence of the weakness of his force. The 
Indians fired at and wounded one man belonging to the fort, who had been 
a short way from it, yet he got in safe; after which they divided themselves 
into small parlies, one of whom attacked tlie ])Uintation of one Raskins, 
near Juniata, whom tliey murdered, burnt his iiouse, and carried o(i' his 
wife and children; and another made Hugh Carroll and his family pri- 
soners. 

On the thirtieth of July, captain Ward, commanding at fort Granville, 
left the fort with all his men, except twenty-four under the command 
of lieutenant Armstrong, to guard some reapers in Shearman's valley. 
Soon after the captain's departure, the fort was attacked by about one 
hundred Indians and French, who, having assaulted it in v^in during the 
afternoon and night of that day, took to tlie Juniata cr/eek, and, pro- 
tected by its banks, attained a deep ravine, by which they were enabled 
to approach, without fear of Injury, to within thirty or forty feet of the 
fort, to which they succeeded in setting fire. Through a hole thus n\ade, 
they killed the lieutenant and one private, and wounded three otiiers, whilst 
endeavouring to put out the fire. The enemy then offering quarter to 
the beslegeel. If they would surrender, one Turner immediately opened 
the gate to tliem. They took prisoners twenty-two soldiers, three woman, 
and some children, whom they loaded with burdens, and drove before them. 
The fort was burned by captain Jacobs, pursuant to the order of the Frencii 
commander. When the Indians reached Ki'tamiing, they put Turner to 
death with the most horrid tortures. They tied him to a black post, 
danced around iiim, made a great fire, and having heated gun-barrels red 
hot, ran them through his body. Having tormented him for three hours, 
they scalped him alive, and at last held up a boy with a hatchet in his hand 
to give him the finishing stroke. 

From the fifth to the tenth of August, many murders were committed 
in Cumberland county, and tlie all'nghted inhabitants, especially of the 
Jnniata and Shearman's valley, deserted their liomes. 

About the twentieth of August, on the SaUsbury plain, near the mouth 
of Conococheague creek, as a number of men, women, and children, 
were attending a funeral, they were fired on by about thirty Indians; who 
killed and scalped fifteen persons, and wounded many of tlie others. The 
same day, six men went from Isaac Baker's upon the scout; one returned 
wounded, four were killed, and the other wa:> captured. And six others, 
going to one Erwin's, to haul grain, were attacked; one wounded in the 
hand, who, together with a companion, escaped; tlie rest were slain. Four 
more, who went from Shirley's fort, were also slain or made prisoners. On 
the same day, two families on Salisbury plain, consisting of nine persons, 
were murdered. 

Upon the following day, as captain F.nuTiet and a scouting party wer« 
crossing the South mountain, th(\ were fired on, and three of their number 
killed, and two wounded. 

A few days after this, oni- WiUiani Mcrrison wont to his place in Cono- 
cocheague settlement, where he was discovered ^y five Indians, and, 
finding he could not escape by running, ho put him^^elf in wn actiye pos- 



(530 " APPENDIX. 

ture, beckoning and making signs, first to one side and then to the other, 
as if a party of his friends were at hand, trying to surround the Indians, 
which they perceiving, retreated into the woods, and he got off safe. 

2 P.— 316. 

The address of some of the people called Quakers, in behalf of them- 
selves and others in the said province : 

The consideration of the measures which have lately been pursued, 
and are now proposed, having been weightily impressed on our minds, we 
apprehend that we should fall short of our duty to you, to ourselves, 
and to our brethren in religious fellowship, if we did not in this manner 
inform you, that, although we shall at all times heartily and freely contri- 
bute, according to our circumstances, either by the payment of taxes, or 
in such other manner as may be judged necessary, towards the exigencies 
of government, and sincerely desire that due care may be taken, and pro- 
per funds provided for raising money, to cultivate our friendship with our 
Indian neighbours, and to support such of our fellow-subjects who now are, 
or may be, in distress, and for such other like benevolent purposes; yet, as 
the raising sums of money and putting them into the hands of committees, 
who may apply them to purposes inconsistent with the peaceable testi- 
mbny we profess, and have borne to the world, ajjpears to us, in its conse- 
quences, to be destructive of our religious liberties, we apprehend many 
among us will be under the necessity of sufTering, rather than consenting 
thereto, by the payment of a tax for such purposes; and thus tlie funda- 
mental part of our constitution may be essentially affected, and that free 
enjoyment of liberty of conscience, for the sake of which our forefathers 
left their native country, and settled this, then a wilderness, by degrees be 
violated. 

We sincerely assure you, we have no temporal motives for thus address- 
ing you; and could we have preserved peace in our own minds, and with 
each other, we should have declined it, being vmwiliing to give you any 
unnecessary trouble; and deeply sensible of your difliculty in discharging- 
the trust committed to you irreproachably in these perilous times, which 
hath engaged our fervent desires that the immediate instruction of Supreme 
Wisdom may influence your minds; and that being preserved in a steady 
attention thereto, you may be enabled to secure peace and tranquillity to 
yourselves and those you represent, by pursuing measures consistent with 
our peaceable principles; and then, we trust, we may continue humbly to 
confide in the pi'otection of that almighty Power, whose providence has 
heretofore been as walls and bulwarks round about us. 

2 Q.— 322. 

•' We have," said they, " with the most sensible concern and pain of 
mind, observed the sorrowful alteration in the state of this late peaceful 
province, now become the theatre of bloodshed and rapine, and distressed 
by the cruel devastations of a barbarous enemy, which justly excites the 
most aggravating reflections in every considerate mind; yet when we cort- 
sider that all wars are attended with fatal consequences, and one with 
enemies so savage as those vviio have now become ours, with circumstances 
the most shocking and dreadful, we cannot omit beseeching, that before 
the resolution of declaring war against them be carried into execution, 
some farther attempts may be made, by pacific measures, to reduce them 
to a sense of their duty, and that a further opportunity may be offered to 
Buch as may be willing to separate from those who have been the wicked 
instruments of perverting them." 

" The settlement of this province was founded on the principles of truth, 
equity, and mercy, and the blessings of Divine Providence attended the 



APPENDIX. 621 

€ai-ly care of tlie first founders to impress these principles on the minds of 
the native inhabitants, so that when tlieir numbers were great, and their 
strength vastly superior, they received our ancestors with gladness, and 
granted them peaceable possession of the land, and for a long course of 
time gave constant and frequent proofs of a cordial friendship, all of which 
we humbly ascribe to the infinite wisdom and goodness of God, " whose 
hand is for good upon all that seek him 5" and as the angelic acclamation 
of glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, and good-will to men, with 
which the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ was published, and the example 
and precepts which he, as the prince of peace, gave through the course of 
his personal appearance on earth, have given us undoubted assurance that 
the day is dawned in which his peaceable reign will be exalted, and gra- 
dually become universal; we cannot, without neglect of our duty, and 
sacrificing the peace of conscience, we prefer to every temporal blessing, 
omit reviving our testimony in this time of probation, that all wars appear 
to us contrary to the nature and end of the gospel dispensation, and that 
we, as a people, still firmly believe, that on an humble and steady acqui- 
escence with the dispensations of Divine Providence, our real protection 
and security depends, from which no temporal inconveniences and diffi- 
culties can justify our departing." 

" Yet, while we earnestly desire all may attain this happy experience, 
we do not presume to prescribe; but as our minds feel more than our 
words can express, of pain and anxiety for our brethren and fellow chris- 
tians, whose desolation, we fear, will be increased, and perpetuated by a 
hasty declaration of war, we find ourselves obliged to beseech the governor 
to resume the most weighty, serious, and religious deliberation on this 
melancholy occasion, that so every measure which hath been pursued, and 
whatever remains possible to be done to prevent so fatal and lamentable 
an extremity, may be strictly and impartially reviewed and considered; 
that full inquiiy may be made, wiiether some apprehensions these Indians 
have conceived of a deviation from tlie integrity towards them so conspicu- 
ous in the first establishment, may not unhappily have contributed in some 
degree to the alteration of tlieir conduct towards us; tliat full time may be 
allowed for those Indians wlio still remain well affected towards us, to use 
and report the effect of their endeavours to reconcile our enemies, and 
that proper care may be taken to prevent our allies being, through the 
misconduct or evil disposition ofany, injiu-ed in such manner as to provoke 
them likewise to their arms against us; and that the governor's care to 
guard against involving the innocent with the guilty, may carry so clear 
demonstration of christian tenderness, and aversion to shedding blood, that 
an evidence maybe given to the minds of the other neighbouring Indians, 
which may engage them heartily and sincerely to assist in the desirable 
work of restoring peace and tranquillity, towards which all the measures 
hitherto taken seem to have contributed little good effect." 

" We, therefore, with sincerity and ardency, pray, that the calamities may 
be averted which will ensue on a continued war with these savages, some 
of the melancholy effects of which the annals of a neighbouring province, 
full of the most warhke people, have testified; and as the fear of God, ho- 
nour of the king, love of our brethren, and fellow christians, are the 
motives which engaged us to make this address, we hope to demonstrate 
by our conduct that every occasion of assisting and relieving the distressed, 
and contributing towards the obtaining of peace, in a manner consistent 
with our peaceable profession, will be cheerfully improved by us, and 
even though a much larger ])arl of our estates should be necessary than 
the heaviest taxes of a war can be expected to require, wc shall cheerfully 
by voluntary grants evidence our sincerity herein." 



622 Al'PENDlX. 

INDIAN WAR— 1763. 

2 R.— 404. 

Late in May, a number of Delaware Indians presented themselves oppo- 
site to fort Pitt, witli fifteen horse load of skins and furs, which they traded 
with the garrison, with great haste and indifFei-ence as to the price. These 
circumstances occasioned surprise and suspicion, which was increased by 
an intimation from one of the savages to a Mr. M'Kee, that he must leave 
tiie fort before the expiration of four days; and by the nocturnal removal 
of a party of Indians from a settlement they possessed a few miles up the 
Allegheny. A fev.' days after, the warrior Wolf, and other Delawares, mur- 
dered and scalped colonel Clapham, and four of bis people, of whom two 
were women; these were treated with the most brutal indecency. Two 
soldiers, who were stationed at a saw-mill, in the vicinity of the fort, were 
also killed and scalped. A company of traders, belonging to Messrs. 
Allison and Calhoune, driving twenty-five horses, loaded with skins and 
furs, were fired upon as they were crossing Beaver creek, and several of 
them killed. Two men, who were sent with an express in the niglit to 
fort Venango, were fired upon, and compelled to return, one of them 
being wounded. 

A party of seven or eight Indians fired upon the garrison at fort Ligo- 
nier, without other damage than the killing some horses. 

On the thirtieth of June, a party of the enemy attacked fifteen persons 
mowing in Mr. Croghan's field, near Bedford, killed and scalped three of 
them. 

On Sunday morning, the tenth of July, the Indians attacked the house 
of William White, on the Juniata, between thirty and forty miles from Car- 
lisle, in which there were four men and one lad. Upon the approach of 
the Indians, White having opened the door to ascertain the cause of the 
noise he heard, was instantly shot down. Those in the house drew in the 
body of White and shut the door; but observing through the window the 
Indians attempting to set fire to the house, they attempted to force their 
way through tlie door, but the first that stepped out being shot down, the 
remainder drew him in and closed the door. After which, one attempting 
an escape out of the window of the loft, was shot through the head, and 
the lad wounded in the arm. The only one now remaining (William Rid- 
dle) broke a hole through the roof of the house, and an Indian who saw 
him looking out, su])posing that he was about to fire upon him, withdrew, 
and gave him an opportunity of escaping. The house, with the other four 
in it, was consumed. One M'Machin, who was coming at this moment to 
the house, without suspicion of the Indians, was fired upon, and wounded 
in the shouldei-, but made his escape. 

On the same day, about a mile and a half from White's, the house of 
Robert Campbell, in which were six men, was also attacked. This party 
was at dinner, when the Indians rushed in, fired among them, and toma- 
hawked one of the men. One of the company by the name of George 
Dodds, snatching a rifle from an adjoining room, shot an Indian tiirough 
the body, who was levelling his piece at him. The Indian, mortally 
wounded, staggered and di'opped his gun, and was carried ofi' by three 
others. Dodds and several others broke through the roof witli a view of 
escaping, and beheld one of their company running slowly, by reason of a 
wound in his breast, and an Indian pursuing," by whom he was sujjposed to 
be slain. The first vviio attempted to get from the roof was fired at, and 
drew back; the second, who made the same attempt, was shot dead; and, 
of the six, Dodds otily made his escape. 

The same day, about dark, upon the Tuscarora, about thirty miles from 
Carlit>le, the savages murdered one William Anderson, together with ahoy 



APPENDIX. 623 

ami a girl, all in one house. At "White's and Campbell's, the Indians were 
from five to ten in number. On Monday, the eleventh, a party of the 
inhabitants, twenty-four in number, from the upper part of Shearman's 
valley, and another party of twelve or fourteen from the lower part of this 
valley, went to reconnoitre, and a party from Carlisle, of between thirty 
and forty, went out for the same purpose, and to assist in burying the dead. 
The second party discovered several houses in flames, or burnt down; the 
reaped grain, in shocks, consumed, and the fences on lire around the stand- 
ing corn; and the bodies of the murdered settlers mangled by the hogs. 
This partj% apprehending danger, dared not to stay and bury the dead. 
Upon their return, having passed the Tuscarora mountain, they were fired 
on by a large party of Indians, and lost six of theh* number, killed and 
wounded. 

Notwithstanding the efforts of the inhabitants, the Indians pursued their 
course through Shearman's valley, marking their path. with fire and blood. 
In three days they killed twenty -five of its inhabitants, and wounded many 
others. 

Early in the month of September, about two o'clock in the afternoon, 
eight Indians came armed to the house of John Finchei-, a Quaker, resident 
over the Blue mountains, in Berks county, about twenty-four miles from 
Reading, and within three-quarters of a mile of a party of six men of cap- 
tain Kern's company of rangers, commanded by ensign Sheffer. Upon 
the approach of the Indians, Fincher, his wife, two sons and daughter, im- 
mediately went to the door and asked tliem to enter and eat: expressed 
their hopes that they came as friends, and entreated them to spare their 
lives. After some deliberation, however, they slew the parents and two 
sons; the daughter was missing after the departure of the Indians, and it 
was supposed, from the cries that were heard by the neighbours, tliat she 
also was slain. A httle boy, who resided in the house, made his escape, 
and alarmed the ensign, who immediately went in pursuit of the enemy. 
He pursued them to the house of one Millar, where he found four children 
murdered, the Indians having carried off two others with them. Millar and 
his wife being at work in the field, saved their lives by flight, the man 
being pursued near a mile by an Indian, who fired at him twice. Conti- 
nuing the pursuit, the serjeant and his party came up with the savages, and 
fired upon them. The fire was returned, and a sharp, but siiort, conflict 
ensued. The enemy fled, leaving behind tliem two prisoners, Millar's 
children, and part of tlie plunder they had taken. These barbarians had 
scalped all tiie persons they had murdered except an infimt, about two 
weeks old, whose brains they had dashed out against the wall. The con- 
sequence of this massacre was the desertion of all the settlements beyond 
the Blue mountain. 

A few days after these events, the house of Frantz Ilubler, in Bern town- 
ship, eighteen miles from Heading, was attacked, himself wounded, his 
wife and three children carried off, and three other of his children scalped 
alive, two of whom soon after died. 

Early in October, the house of John Stinton, about eight miles from 
Bethlehem, was assailed by tlie Indians, at which was captain Withcrholt, 
with a party belonging to fort Allen. The captain, designing early in the 
morning to proceed for the fort, ordered a servant out to get his horse 
ready, who was immediately sliot down by the enemy; upon which the 
captain going to the door, was also mortally wounded, and a sergeant, who 
attempted to draw the captain in, was also dangerously hurt. Tiie lieu- 
tenant then advanced, when an Indian jumping on tlie bodies of the two 
others, presented a pistol to his breast, which he, putting ;isidp, it went ofl" 
over his shoulder, whereby he got the Indian out c)f the house and shut tiie 
door. The Indians then went round to a window, and as Stinton was get- 
ting out of bed, shot him; but, rushing from the house, he was able to run 



624 APPENDIX^ 

a mile before he dropped dead. His wife und two children ran into the 
cellar; they were fired upon three times, but escaped uninjured. Captain 
Wetherholt, notwithstanding his wound, crawled to a window, whence he 
killed one of the Indians who were setting fire to the house; the others 
then ran off, bearing with them their dead companion. Captain Wether- 
holt died soon after. 

On the eighth of October, a party of fifteen or twenty Indians attacked 
the house of captain Nicholas Marks, of Whitehall township, Northampton 
county. Marks, his wife, and an apprentice boy, made their escape, though 
twice fired upon by the Indians, and proceeded to the house of one Adam 
Fashler, where there were twenty men under arms. These immediately 
went in pursuit of the enemy. In their progi'ess, they visited the farms of 
Jacob Meekly, where they found a boy and girl lying dead, the girl scalp- 
ed; of Hance Sneider, where they discovered the owner, his wife, and three 
children dead, in the field, and three girls, one dead, the other two wound- 
ed, and one of them scalped. On their return to Ashler's, they found the 
wife of Jacob Aliening, with a child, lying dead in the road, and scalped. 
The houses of Marks and Sneider were both burned. 

In the commencement of November the savages again appeared on the 
west of Carlisle, in the vicinity of the north mountain, Shearman's valley, 
and Bedford, and also in the neighbourhood of AUentown and Bethlehem. 
They killed and scalped one Williamson, and his two youngest children, 
and carried the eldest, a girl, into captivity. They also killed and scalped 
two men, one by the name of William Keed, and the other David Gloss. 

February 10, 1764. — Indians, to the number of fifty, attacked the farm of 
James llussell, in Northampton county, near fort Penn; burnt his barn, 
killing one of his sons, and carrying oft' another. Officer at that post pur- 
sued, but did not overtake tiie Indians. 

February 22. — A party of Indians, six in number, attacked a party from 
the gari'ison, at Pitt, out cutting wood, killed one, and severely wounded 
another. The wounded man drove from him three of the Indians, and 
escaped into the fort. 

February 26. — John Russell, brotlier of the lads above mentioned, was 
attacked by three Indians. He took to a tree, and received three fires 
from each, returned as many, and drove them off. One shot passed througli 
his hat, another through the sleeve of his coat, and a third wounded him 
slightly in the calf of the leg. 

Monday, 19th March. —The Indians carried ofl'five people from within nine 
miles of Siiippensburg, and shot one man through the body. The enemy, 
supposed to be eleven in number, were pursued unsuccessfully by about 
one hundred provincials. The houses of John Stewart, Adam Sims, James 
M'Cammon, William Baird, James Kelly, Stephen Caldwell and Jolm Boyd, 
were biu-nt. These people lost all their grain, which tliey had thrashed 
out with the intention to send it for safety further down among the inhabi- 
tants. 

The bearer of the foregoing intelligence from Caflisle, liad nine shots 
fired at him, one of which lodged in his horse's shoulder. — Extract of a let- 
ter from Carlisle. 

April. — The distresses of tlie back inhabitants arc greater than can be 
well conceived. Two hundred miles of an extended frontier are so exposed 
to the incursions of Indians, that no man can go to sleep within ten or fif- 
teen miles of the border without danger of having his house burned, and 
himself and family scalped, or led into captivity before the next morning. 
No man can tell where the Indians will strike the next blow, wlien they 



APPF.NDIX- 62.1 

have begun their murders and devastations. On the twentieth of last 
month, Agnes Davidson, and her child, of a year old, Andrew Sims, four- 
teen years old, Margaretta Stephens, twelve year.s old, and Joseph Mitchell, 
tliree years old, were made prisoners. Seven houses were burned down 
on the twenty-first, and a great number of horses, cows, sheep, and hogs 
were killed. On the twenty-second a barn was burned in the Path valley; 
a horse was killed, and two taken away. About twelve hidians carried off 
the captives, and seven or eight tarried behind, and did considerable da- 
mage. The militia officers pursued the enemy without success. 

Another letter, dated March 26, states, " many of the inhabitants of the 
Patij and Shearman's valley were purpo.sing to adventure home, but this 
ailair has quite disconcerted their measures, and the people along tiie 
north mountain are moving further in, especially about Shippensburg, which 
is crowded with families of that neiglibourhood. Our country has the ap- 
pearance of nothing but confusion and distress, which I fear will increase. 
What shall so many famihes do, who have spent the winter with us, chiefly 
supported by the contributions of Philadelphia, in hopes of returning to 
their settlement in the spring. Many of them have been forced to sell 
what few cattle they saved to support their families, and others, who, in the 
fall, would not apply for a share in the public contributions, are obliged, by 
want, to apply now, when our funds are almost spent. 'l"he above seven 
families got nothing saved but their wearing clothes, so sudden was tlie 
alarm; one poor woman, delivered of a child, was obliged to remove in 
two hours time after." 

April 19, 1764.-David Owens, a deserter from the regulars, who lived some 
years among the Indians, returned to one of the outposts, bringing with 
him five fresh Indian scalps, and a white boy, who w^as a prisoner among 
the Indians. They relate that they were coming down the Susquehaimuh 
with nine Indians, four men, a lad, two women, and two children, to fetcli. 
corn; that they encamped at night, and ma.d": a fire to sleep by. In the 
night Owens waked the white boy, and made him go from among the 
Indians; that he then removed their arms, except two guns and a hatchet. 
AVith the two guns he shot dead two of the Indian men immediately, and 
with the hatchet despatched the two women, the Indian lad, and two chil- 
dren; but two of the men made their escape. Owens staid not far fiom 
the place until morning, when he scalped the two men, the women, and 
the lad, and then gave his knife to th« white boy, bidding him scalp the 
two children; but he declining it, they left them unscalped, and came 
away. 

On Sunday, the twenty-second of .luly, two or three Indians were .seen 
near fort Loudon. On Wednesday following, a woman, with child, named 
Cunningham, passing to a neighbour's, was met by the savages, scalped and 
murdered, and belly ripped open, and the child left beside her. Another 
woman, named Jamieson, was missing, supposed to be carried off". On the 
twenty-sixth, in the forenoon, the enemy came in a school-house on Cone- 
cocheague creek, twelve or fifteen miles from fort Loudon, in the very 
heart of the settlement, where they killed and scalped the master, one 
Brown, and nine of his scholars; that four more, belonging to the school, 
were thought to be made prisoners. This bloody massacre was discovered 
by a man passing by, who, hearing no noise in the school, went in, and saw 
the master lying scalped, with his bible under his arm; that one of the 
scholars was much wounded, who told him that there were four Indians, 
who were not seen tmtil they entered the house. Two of il»t chihhen then 
murdered belonged to an (mhappy man, who had four others carried off by 
the savages in the last war. 

79 



6^26 ArPENDlX. 



2 T.— 530. 



Nnmes of the iiioiiibeis oF the provincial conference, convened on tlie 
rcsDlution of congress recommending' a change in form of tlie provincial 
governments. 

For the committee of the city of Philadelphia — Benjamin Franklin,! colonel 
I'liomus M'Kean, Mr. Christopher Marshall, jr., major John Bayard, colo- 
nel Timotliy Matlack, coloneljoseph Dean, captain Francis Gurney, major 
William (^oates, Mr. George Schlosser, captain Jonathan B. Smith, cap- 
tain George Goodwin, Mr. Jacob Barge, Mr. Samuel ('. Morris, captain 
Joseph Moulder, Mr. William Lowman, Dr. Benjamin Rush, Mr. Christo- 
pher I-udvvig, Mr, James Milligan, Mr. Jacob Shriner, captain Sharp De- 
lany, major John (]ox, captain Benjamin Loxley, captain Samuel Brewster, 
captain Joseph Klewer, Mr. William Robinson. 

For the commit/ce of Philadelphia county — Colonel Henry Hill, colonel 
Robert Lewis, Dr. Enoch Edward.s, colonel William Hamilton, f colonel 
John Bull, colonel Frederick Antes,"}" major James Potts, major Robert Lol- 
lar, Mr. Joseph M.'ithe;, Mr. Matthew Brooks, Mr. Edward Bartholomew. 

For the cntnmitlfe of Bucks county — Jolm Kidd, esq., major Henry Wyn- 
koop, Mr. James Wallace, colonel Josepli Hart, Mr. Benjamin Segle. 

Fur the coinrnitlee of Cher.ter county — Colonel Richard Thomas, major 
\A'illiain Evans, colonel Thomas Hockley, major Caleb Davis, Elisha Price, 
CSC]., Ml'. Samuel J'airlamb, colonel William Montgomery, colonel Hugh 
J.loyd, Richard l.'eilly, esq., colonel Evan P'.vans, colonel Lewis Greno, 
major Sketclily Morton, captain Thomas Levis. 

For the committee of Lnncniter county — William Atlee, esq., Mr. Lodo- 
wick Lewman, colonel Bartram Galbraith, colonel Alexander Lowry, cap- 
tain Andrew Graaff, Mr. William Brown, Mr. John Smiley, major James 
Cuiuiingliam, m:ij()r David Jenkins. 

For t lie committee oj Berks county — Colonel Jacob Morgan, colonel Henry 
Mailer, colonel Mark Bird, Dr. Bodo Otto, Mr. Benjamin Spyker, colonel 
Daniel liimter, colonel Valentine Eckart, colonel Nicholas Lutz, captain 
Jo.eph 1 leister, Mr. Chi.rles Shoemaker. 

For the comrnif/ce if Northainpton county — Robert Levens, esq., colonel 
Neigal Gray, John Weitzcl, esq., Nicholas Depui, esq. Mr. David Deshler, 
Mr. Benjamin Dupue. 

For the couvnittte of York county— colonel James Smith, colonel Robert 
M'i'herson, colonel Richard M'Allister, colonel David Kennedy, colonel 
William Rankin, colonel Henn' Slagle, Mr. James Egan,"[ Mr. John Hay, 
captain Josej^h Read. 

F<ir the committee of Cumberland county — Mr. James M'Lane.f colonel 
John Allison, John M'Clay, esq., William Elliott, esq., colonel William 
Clark, Dr. John Colhoon, Mr. John Creigh, Mr. Hugh M'Connick, Mr. 
John Harris, Mr. Hugh Alexander. 

For the committee of Bedford county — Colonel David Espy, colonel John 
Pijjer, Samuel Davidson, esq. 

For the committee of IVestmoreland county — Mr. Edward Cooke, Mr. James 
Perry. 

N. B. The persons whose names are marked thus.f did not attend the con- 
ference. 

2 U.— 540. 

Names of the members of the convention of the state of Pennsylv.inia, 
held .luly 15, 1776, at Philadelphia, and continued by adjournment to Sep- 
teiiibei' the twenty-eighth following: 

For the city if Philadelphia — Timothy Matlack, Benjamin Franklin, Fre- 
derick Kiihl, Owen Biddlc, James Caimon, George Clymer, George Scldos- 
6ei', Davul Ri'.i.enhouse. 



APPENDIX. 627 

For the counti/ of Philadelph'a — Frederick Antes, Henry Hill, Robert 
l.ollar, .Josepli Blewer, John Bull, Tnomas Polts, Edward Bartholomew, 
William Coates. 

For the county of Bucks — Joseph Hart, John Wilkinson, Samuel Gmith, 
John Keller, VVilliam Vanhorn, John Grier, Abraham Van Middlesnatts, 
Joseph Kivkbride. 

Fur the county of Chester — Benjamin Bartholomew, John Jacob?^ Thoiras 
Strawbridge, Uobert Smith, Samuel Cunningham, John Hart, Jrhn Mackey, 
John Flemming. 

Fur the county of Lancaster — George Ross, Philip Marsteller, Thomas 
Torter, Bartram Gal braith, Joseph Sheerer, John Hubley, Henry Slaymaker, 
Alexander l.owry. 

Foi- the county of York — John Hay, James Edgar, William R^nk'" Henry 
Slaglc, Francis Crazart, James Smith, Robert M'Pherson, Joseph Donald- 
son. 

Fur the county of Cumberland — John Harris, Jonathan Hoge, William 
Clarke, Uobert Whitehill, William Duffield, James Brown, Hugh Alexan- 
der, James M 'Clean. 

For the county nf Berks — Jacob Morgan, Gabriel Hiester, John Lesher, 
■nenjarnin Spyker, Daniel Hunter, Valentine Eckart, Charles Shoemaker, 
I'liomas Jones. 

For the county of J^orthampton — Simon Dresbach, Jacob Arndt, Peter 
Tluckhelder, Peter Rhoads, Jacob Stroud, Neigal Gray, Abraham Miller, 
John Ralston. 

For the county of Bedford — Thomas Smith, John Wilkins, BeJijamin El- 
liot, Thomas Coulter, Joseph Powell, Henry Rhoads, John Burd, John 
Cessna. 

For the county of Northumberland — William Cocke, James Potter, Robert 
Martin, Matthew Brown, Walter (^lark, John Kelly, James Crawford, John 
W(-it7.<.'l!. 

For the county nf IVcutrnoreland — James Barr, Edward Cooke, James 
Sniiili, John Moore, John Cartnichael, James Perrj', John M'Clellan, Chris- 
tiii)litr Lavingair. 

2 X.— 542. 

Names of members of the assembly and other officers. 

Fur the county of Philadelphia: — John Dickenson, Michael Killeg&s, 
George Gray, 'I'homas Potts, Samuel Miles, Joseph Parker, Robert Morris, 
Jonathan Roberts. 

Fur the city of Philadelphia: — Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin. On the 
twenty-sixth of February, 1776, Dr. Franklin resigned his seat in the as- 
sembly; alleging, that his advanced age would not permit him to execute 
the duties of that office, in addition to those of a member of the committee 
of safety, and member of congress. 

For the county of Chester: — John Morion, Benjamin Bartholomew, James 
Gibbons, Isaac Pearson, John Jacobs, Charles Humphreys, Joseph Pennock, 
Joseph I'yie. 

Fur the county of Burks: — William Rodman, John Hcany, Gerardus Wyn- 
koop, John Koulke, BLnjamin Cliapman, David Twining, John Brown, 
Tliomab Jenks. 

For the cuunty (f Lancaster: — Curtis Grubb, Matthias Slough, George 
Ross, James Webb. 

For the county of York: — Jnmes Ewing, Michael Swoope. 

For the county (f ('unihrr/(ind:^\\'\\\ia.fu Allen, ,?ohn Montgomery. 

Fur thr county of Btik.''. - Kdward BiiMle, Henry ( finest. 

/'(;/• the county of Ninthamjiton: — Peter Kachlein, Geoi^e I'aylor. 

For the county nj Bedford: — Bernard Dougherty. 

For the county of Northumberland: —'^Am\iz\ Hunter. 



628 APPENDIX. 

For the county of Westmoreland. — William Thompson. 

Members of the proprietaries' and governor's council: 

James Hamilton, Joseph Turner, William Logan, Richard Peters, I.ynford 
Lardner, Benjamin Chew, Thomas Cadwallader, James Tilghn»an, Andrew 
Alien, Edward Shippen, jr. 

Joseph Shippen, jr., provincial secretary, and clerk of the council^ Jo- 
seph Galloway, speaker of the house of assembly; Charles Moore, clei'k 
of the assembly; Owen Jones, treasurer of the province; Benjamin Frank- 
lin, agent for the province in Great Britain, 

Judges of the supreme court: 

William Allen, chief justice, John Lawrence, second judge; Thomas 
Willing, third judge. 

Edward Shippen, jr., prothonotary of the supreme court, &c.; Andrew 
Allen, attorney -general; Benjamin Chew, register-general, &c. ; William 
Parr, master of the rolls, &c. 

Proprietaries' officers for land affairs, &c. : 

James Tilghman, secretary of the land office; Edmund Physick, receiver- 
general, and keeper of the great seal; Richard Hockley, auditor-general; 
John Lukens, surveyor-general. 

Principal officers for the customs, for the port of Philadelphia: 

John Patterson, collector; Zachariah Hood, comptroller; Richard Hock- 
ley, naval officer; David Drummond, surveyor and searcher, &c. 

Court of admiralty for the province of Pennsylvania, and counties of 
Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex, upon Delaware: 

Edward Shippen, jr., judge; Richard Peters, jr., register; Judah Foulke, 
marshall. 

Court of admiralty, in case of appeals, for the provinces of New York, 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia: 

Honourable Jared Ingersoll, commissary; James Biddle, deputy-commis- 
sary; Philip How, register; John Smith, deputy -register; Arodi Thayer, 
marshal, and sergeant at mace. 

About this time, the number of aldermen for the city of Philadelphia 
consisted of twenty persons; and the common council of thirty-six. 



THE END. 



■*•» 



ERRATA. 

For the errors noted in the following list, and for others he may not have 
detected, the author assigns occasional indisposition, during the passage oi 
the work through the press, as an apology. 

Preface, page vii. line 8, for "Robinson," read "Robertson." 
Page 12, line 5, for " Swanwendael," read " Swannaandael." 
17, line 2, for "1731," read " 1631." 

28, line 6, for " 1753," read " 1653." 

29, line 27, for "1768," read " 1668." 
40, line 4, for « 1780," read " l680." 
49, line 22, for "is," read "are." 

173, line 28, for " 1780," read " 1680." 
236, line 34, for " unwillingness," read " willingness." 
253, line 23, for " 1736," read « 1686." 
312, line 34, for " Harr's," read " Harris." 
319, line 10, for " were," read " was." 
366, and elsewhere, for " Bonquet," read *' Bouquet." 
411,412, for " 1765," at top of page, read "1764." 
464, line 27, for "it," read "them." 
472, line 29, for "Indians," read "brethren." 
546, line 14, for " 1782," read " 1682." 
565, line 12, for " Debtors," read "A debtor." 

Note 2 S has been inadvertently omitted. It contains copies of denun- 
ciations of persons who had broken the prohibitions of congress. 



^Bf^ySg 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 





n II mil I 
014 209 154 9 




